


Keep Your Hopes Up High, And Your Head Down Low

by agent_reynolds



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-06 15:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 69,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1863039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent_reynolds/pseuds/agent_reynolds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School Alternate Universe. Two new students move to SLHS from across the pond. One of which catches the eye of the school's resident slacker; who happens to be the best friend of the star quarterback.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Day To Remember

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got around to getting on this site. I'm excited to see what you guys think of this story!

_Mondays_.  Just the thought of the name of the first day of the school week brought a scowl to Skye’s face as she pulled her textbook from her locker. She shoved the book into her ratty old backpack next to her precious laptop.  Skye contemplated shoving her arm back into the locker before slamming the door shut, but then thought better of it.  It would be much more of a challenge to use her computer with an injured hand; plus, if the nurse had to send her home she would call Skye’s foster mom, and that was not someone she wanted to deal with today. Her foster mom hadn’t even seen her in three days, and not even a text message had been sent to see where Skye had run off to this time.  The only thing Skye disliked about not being at her newest “home sweet home” was that she had someone that would consistently wake her up for school, even when she really didn’t want to go.

 

            As all of these thoughts were running through Skye’s mind, she failed to notice that she had been staring blankly into her locker for what was nearing a full minute. This occurred to her when someone slammed their shoulder into the locker next to her head before shooting her a snarky smile, “Did you finally find Narnia?”

 

            Skye nearly jumped out of her skin as the tall, muscular guy she called her best friend shocked her out of her daydreams, and effectively woke her up for the second time that day. “You really think you’re funny, don’t you?” Skye barked at him with a slight smirk twitching at the corners of her mouth, “And to answer your question: if I did, I wouldn’t still be standing here, would I Ward?”

 

            Ward ran his hand through his short, black hair as he straightened himself up and shrugged his shoulders, “That is a solid point.  I just thought that might be what had kept you so very captivated on the inside of your personal hole in the wall.  Unless, of course, you were watching something not school appropriate.  In that case, let me see.”

 

            Skye chuckled and rolled her eyes as she slammed her locker door shut, almost smashing Ward’s hand in the process, “You know, there are some days when I really don’t know why I hang out with you.”

 

            “It’s because you secretly love me.” Ward replied while putting on the most charming smile he could muster, “But next time, watch the hand.  I need that for Friday.”

 

            Skye laughed and laced her hands together in front of her face in a pleading motion, “Oh no, that would be so terrible.  I can see the headlines now! ‘SLHS Star Quarterback’s Season Slammed To A Close!’”

 

            It was Ward’s turn to roll his eyes and smirk as he put his hand on Skye’s shoulder, “Very clever. Now get to class, you need to get your grade up in your Algebra class.”

 

            “How do you know my grades better than I do?”

 

            “Because I actually look at your report cards.  You need to get that grade up or there’ll be a couple extra weeks added on to your tenure as a sophomore here at lovely Stan Lee High.” Ward said, the last part being brought to life in his best Shakespearian accent as he waved his arm not on Skye’s shoulder in the air.

 

            Skye almost doubled over in laughter at the terrible impersonation, but continued walking with him, “Well, I guess we’ve reached prison cell number one for the day.”

 

            Ward grabbed both her shoulders, spinning her to look at him, “I was serious Skye. Get the math grade up unless you want to get put in summer school, or have the phone call made home.” The last phrase of the statement being said with a look of sad knowing in his dark eyes, as he looked into her eyes, “Pay attention and don’t get kicked out today. You know how, Mr. Sitwell is.”

 

            “Alright,” Skye sighed out in false exasperation with a smile on her face, “I’ll try my best.”

 

            Ward patted her on the shoulder then gave the crown of her head a quick kiss before running off, yelling at a wide receiver on the football team to wait up.  Skye briefly considered just walking back to her locker then leaving school, but then remembered the Ward’s face when he had looked at her. It was a look of caring, something Skye never tired of seeing.  She ruffled her hair where Ward had kissed her before walking into the classroom they had stopped at right as the bell rang.

 

            She walked to her usual seat in the back of the room and slouched down into the chair. Her head turned from side to side, observing the people around her, who were all oblivious to her presence. They were all too engrossed in their own conversations with their friends to even notice that the bell had rung to signify the start of class.  Skye tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the people surrounding her; she didn’t like any of them.  They were all too arrogant or stupid for her to get along with.  Judgmental was another thing she would call them, on a long list of adjectives that weren’t exactly appropriate to a school setting. All Skye could think about was Scar from _The Lion King_ with his face in his paw muttering, “I’m surrounded by idiots.”  That brought a smile to her face as she brushed the hair out of her eyes and settled down into her seat while Mr. Sitwell began to get everyone’s attention.

 

            An hour later, which seemed like an eternity to Skye, her Algebra class ended and she found herself headed back to her locker.  She was already tired and bored with school for the day, and was seriously considering skipping out on the rest of her classes.  That is, until she turned the corner to the hallway that held her school appointed storage space and saw someone digging through her now open locker. Skye would normally beat the intruder with the overly large (at least in her opinion) math book she had in her backpack, but she recognized the form of the only person she really considered a friend.  “Grant Ward, I should hurt you for this.”  She stated as she punched him in the arm.

 

            “Just making sure you didn’t have anything you shouldn’t in here.” Ward said as he pulled his head out of her locker, “And you should cool it with the Grant thing. No one actually calls me that.”

 

            “I guess that just means I’m special.”  Skye replied with raised eyebrows as she threw the math textbook past her friend into the locker.

 

            She began digging in the mess that was inside her locker, trying to find the book for her next class. Her anger was beginning to show on her face as she heard a snicker behind her.  Furrowing her brow, Skye turned to see Ward holding the book in his hand with a sly grin on his face.  “You are such a loser, Grant.”  Emphasizing his name and watching his face drop to a look of disparagement. That brought a beaming smile to her face, “What are you doing here anyway?”

 

            “Making sure you don’t try to skip town on me.  I didn’t want you to think that I was going to let you off with just the warning I gave you earlier.”

 

            Ward leaned up against the locker next to Skye’s the same way he did that morning, only more quietly, as she continued to push books into her bag.  He made sure to check if she had paid attention in her first class, not taking her first answer as gospel.  The question had been raised four more times before Skye looked him in the eyes and promised him that she had done exactly that.  When Ward ducked his head, laughing at her frustration with him, Skye took a look over his shoulder.  “Ward.” She stated quickly and quietly.

 

            “What?” He replied with a raised eyebrow.

 

            “Dibs.” Skye said looking into his eyes to make sure he had heard her, “I call dibs.”

 

            A look of confusion passed over his face before he saw that her eyes had redirected to back over his shoulder. He stood up and turned around quickly to see what, or rather who, had caught Skye’s attention so raptly. A smile jumped onto his face, then quickly left as the realization hit him.  “Skye, that’s not fair, I didn’t even have a chance.”

 

            “I don’t care. I called dibs, you can’t deny it.”

 

            “That’s right, even I heard her.” A voice said from behind Skye, causing both her and Ward to spin around.

 

            “Come on Tripp! You’re taking her side?” Ward yelled at his teammate.

 

            “Hey man, you have to respect the dibs.” Tripp replied, as he laughed.

 

            “I’m beginning to like him, Ward.” Skye said as she gave Tripp a smile.

 

            “Yeah, yeah. Tripp, let’s see how many passes you get thrown Friday.” Ward replied, looking wistfully over his shoulder.

 

            What had caught both Ward and Skye’s attention was the two, obviously, new kids in school. They were obviously new because, well, Ward didn’t know them, and by extension, neither did Skye. Being the star of the football team didn’t stop Ward from being a good guy and getting to know everybody, which is why Skye knew she had to call this when she did.  One of the newcomers was a thin boy, with short, curly brown hair. He had on an un-tucked dress shirt with a tie over his jeans, and his sneakers were not smudged in the least bit. He had his messenger bag over his shoulder as he used his hands to help while he talked to his companion.

 

            This companion of his was who had grasped Skye’s attention so quickly.  She was slightly shorter than her friend, with long dark, almost red, hair. She was as dressed up as her compatriot, wearing a shirt and tie under her sweater along with her jeans and Converse.  The straps of her backpack were tightly wrapped around her shoulders as she walked down the hall listening to her excited friend, looking both intrigued and disapproving. “I wonder who she is.” Skye muttered under her breath, fear flashing across her face, along with a rising blush, when she realized that she had said it out loud.

 

            “Well, there’s one way to find out.”  Ward said as he pulled one strap of his backpack over his shoulder and began to walk towards the new students.

 

            Skye grabbed his arm and spun him back around, “No, no, no.  I am not just walking up on her like that.  Not like this.” Skye looked down at herself and noted that her face felt hot from the lingering blush that had spread across her cheeks.

 

            Ward checked his watch and said, “You’re right, you aren’t going to walk up on her. You are going to go to class, which is on the other side of the building in two minutes.  Thankfully, Tripp has class right next door, so he can make sure you actually go.”

 

            “Wait. Then what was all that about? Just trying to scare me?” Skye asked, confused by Ward’s statement.

 

            Ward just gave her a big smile, that reminded Skye too much of the Cheshire Cat to feel comfortable with it, then said, “You are going to class because you need to pull your grades up some, I’m going to be the welcoming committee for our new friends.”

 

            Skye’s eyes widened in what can only be described as pure terror, “Ward! You can’t do this. I called dibs! And now your going to embarrass me, aren’t you?”

 

            Ward raised an eyebrow and replied, “Now would I do that to you?”

 

            Before she could answer, Ward turned around and Tripp patted Skye on the shoulder then led her toward her next class.  What came next was what felt like the longest three hours of Skye’s life.  The next time she got a break was lunch and, thankfully, Ward would be there too so she could beat the living daylight out of him. She went through the line to get her food, or the slop they called food she thought, and walked towards her and Ward’s usual table.  Skye was the first one there so she began to slowly choke down the slime that was labeled spaghetti. Her mind wandered to the classes of the day and how much she hated this place.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before raising her drink to her lips.  As she did this, a lunch trap was dropped onto the table across from her.  “Be careful there, Skye.  You don’t want to wear your milk.” A smirking Ward said as he sat down in front of her.

 

            “I should make you wear it and beat the—“ Skye said between coughs before she noticed Ward’s grin spreading even farther across his face, “What is so funny?”

 

            It was just then she heard someone clear their throat behind her.  Skye spun around as fast as she could and her jaw dropped when she saw who was standing behind her. The eyes of the two newcomers to the school were pointed directly at her.  The boy had an eyebrow raised and a slight grin, but the girl had a brilliant smile stretched across her face, one that Skye thought may have brightened up the entire room.  Skye turned back towards Ward as the blush crept up her neck to her cheeks. If looks could kill, Ward would have dropped immediately, but instead his eyes showed that he thought this was the funniest thing he had seen in a long time.  Ward propped his head up on a hand, “Skye, I invited the new kids to join us for lunch today.  This is Fitz and Simmons.”

 

            “Hey.” Skye muttered quietly.

 

            Fitz and Simmons sat down, Fitz next to Ward and Simmons across from Fitz.  That placed Simmons right next to Skye, which elicited a small smirk from Ward.  Skye shot him another look that threatened to bury him before nearly jumping out of her seat when she heard the voice of Simmons next to her ear, “Thank you for inviting us to sit here.  I was worried we wouldn’t quite fit in here.”

 

            “It’s no problem. I like to at least know most people’s name here.” Ward replied, still with the grin that was causing Skye to want to knock his teeth down his throat.

 

            “Simmons was really worried about not finding people to talk to here.  I was just more concerned about not getting tossed in a locker.” Fitz said mindlessly as he fiddled with an app on his phone.

 

            “Have some experience with that, do you?” Ward asked as the smile fell from his face.

 

            “We ran into some very—“ Simmons began, with her smooth accent that was causing a shiver to run down Skye’s spine, before Fitz finished her sentence.

 

            “Aggressive and impolite members of a rugby team.”

 

            “Well, no need to worry about that here.” Ward stated firmly, the movie star smile reaching his face again, “I’ll see to it that no one tries anything.”

 

            “Well thank you, but you don’t have to go out of your way for us.  It’s really not a big deal.” Simmons said with a small, thankful smile.

 

            “Two words from Ward here and you could be prom queen.  Keeping assholes from pushing you in a locker isn’t exactly a challenge for him.” Skye mumbled, her eyes widening after realizing she had said it out loud.

 

            “Thanks for joining us, Skye. Have a fun time in dreamland?” Ward teased as he reached across and patted her on the head, “But as much as she exaggerated there, I do have a bit of pull around school.  I’ll be sure to see that no one messes with you too much.”

 

            Skye snarled at Ward and swatted his hand away from her head, before becoming extremely interested in the red stains of sauce left on the tray in front of her.  “How does one come about such pull in a school like this?” Simmons asked as she leaned towards Ward.

 

            “It mostly comes from being the starting quarterback for three straight years, and the team making the state championship last year.” Ward said as if it was something everyone did, and then checked the watch on his wrist, “But I’ll catch up with you guys later, I have a class to get to.  Skye, you want to come with?  I know you’d hate to miss that computer class you have.”

 

            Skye tugged her bag onto her shoulder and began to stand up when the dulcet tones of Simmons’ voice interrupted her, “With Mr. Stark?  That’s the one I’m in.”

 

            Skye and Ward looked at each other; Ward with raised eyebrows and a smirk, Skye with a look of pure fear in her wide eyes.  “Really now? Maybe Skye can show you where it is.”

 

            Simmons stood from the table and bounced to the balls of her feet, “That would be fantastic!”

 

            Simmons’ bubbly voice echoed in Skye’s head as she gave Ward yet another death glare before muttering, “Alright, follow me.”

 

            Ward caught Skye and hugged her before she could walk away.  As he hugged her he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You’re welcome.”

 

            Skye responded by elbowing him in the ribs then walking towards the door, followed closely by Simmons. Simmons caught up to Skye and noticed that Skye had her hands clenched into fists.  She put her hand on the dark-haired girl’s shoulder and softly spoke, “Does he get on your nerves a lot?”

 

            Skye tensed up immediately when Simmons touched her, but then relaxed when she heard the shorter girl’s voice.  She took a deep breath and relaxed her hands, “Yeah.  I think his goal every day is to hit my last nerve.”

 

            “Then, if you don’t mind my asking, why do you spend so much time with him?”

 

            Skye came to a halt in the middle of the hallway and looked at Simmons.  Simmons’ hazel eyes shown brightly and drew Skye almost into a trance.  Skye felt like she was going to spill out her entire history to this girl she had just met. She was just going to let all her memories of the bullying and abusive homes and places she just never fit in at flow into the open.  She stopped herself after opening her mouth for a moment and replied succinctly, “He’s been there for me whenever I needed him.”

 

            The heaviness of the statement was not lost on Simmons, and she removed her hand from Skye’s shoulder and they continued walking.  The rest of the trip to the classroom was made in silence.  When the pair reached the classroom, Skye immediately headed to her seat in the middle of the room.  This was the only class she actually enjoyed, and so it was the only class she didn’t sit in the back corner.  Simmons, not knowing anybody else in the room, chose to sit in the seat next to Skye. _Oh great_ , Skye thought, _how am I supposed to concentrate when I can see her right there and smell that perfume?_ Skye hadn’t realized she closed her eyes and breathed deeply in through her nose while she was thinking this. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she tried to decipher what smell Simmons’ perfume was, _maybe lilac_ she thought. “Are you alright, Skye?”

 

            Skye jumped in her chair and almost fell right out of it as she heard Simmons’ voice. She was really tired of zoning out and this girl scaring her.  Skye had called dibs so she was trying to make a good impression, but this wasn’t exactly helping her.  It wasn’t until she had righted herself on her chair that she realized Simmons’ hand was at Skye’s elbow, having reached out to try and help her not fall off the chair. A blush creeped it’s way up Skye’s neck to her cheeks as she looked down and saw Simmons touching her, “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.  My mind was just wandering.  A million miles away, you know.” 

 

Skye was rambling and she felt stupid and embarrassed, but when she looked up Simmons was just smiling at her kindly.  It sent butterflies through Skye’s stomach, and she hated it.  She couldn’t figure out why this girl affected her so much and they had only met that day.  “It’s completely fine. Ward says you do that quite often.” Simmons eyes went wide when she realized how that sounded out loud, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that or anything.”

 

Skye could only laugh and shake her head, “He’s right.  I do actually do that a lot.”

 

It wasn’t until this moment that both girls realized that Simmons’ hand was still on Skye’s arm. They looked down almost simultaneously and saw that.  Both Skye and Simmons almost jumped backwards.  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was still doing that.” Simmons almost whispered as she crossed her arms across her chest.

 

Skye couldn’t help but notice that Simmons was sitting ramrod straight, even as embarrassed as she seemed. She also couldn’t help but observe Simmons’ clothes more closely than she did from across the hallway this morning. Simmons’ sweater was a dark pink overtop the white collared shirt and bright pink tie she was wearing. Her jeans fit her legs well all the way down and her red Converse shoes rounded out the strangely stylish ensemble. Skye’s looked at herself and felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.  She was slouching too much for it to be healthy on her back, her loose fitting black t-shirt looked very worn, her jeans were starting to get holes at some points, and her old tennis shoes were beginning to split at the sole. Skye just turned toward the computer in front of her and stared at the screen, hoping the glow of the computer would cover the glow that her blush was giving off.

 

Skye skipped the rest of her classes that day.  After her computer class she through most of her stuff in her locker, thankful that Ward wasn’t there to stop her, and went out toward the football field. She would sit there on her laptop until Ward got out of practice to drive her home.  Skye found a bit of shade under the bleachers on one side of the field and engrossed herself in whatever she could find on the Internet that amused her. The sound of footsteps approaching fell on deaf ears, as she was entranced in the numbers flying across her screen. It wasn’t until the shadow fell across her screen that she realized someone was standing over her. She raised her eyes from the screen to see Ward standing above her with a frown on his face. She checked the time on her computer, school had just gotten out.  “Don’t you have practice to go to?”

 

“Coach cancelled it today.” Ward replied, deadpan, “Didn’t you have classes to go to today?”

 

“I went.”

 

Ward raised an eyebrow at her and she felt like she was shrinking into the ground, “Well, I went to most of them.”

 

Skye tried to give Ward a lopsided grin, but it didn’t come across very convincingly.  He sighed and reached his hand down to her to help her up off the ground.  She took his hand and let him pull her up then threw her backpack over her shoulder. The walk to Ward’s car was silent except for the sound of their feet on the pavement.  Once they reached the car, they both climbed in, but Ward didn’t start the vehicle.  Skye smirked and said, “Um, Ward.  I may not have my license, but I think you’re supposed to put the key in the ignition and turn.”

 

“Skye.  You can’t just keep skipping your classes like this. You promised me you would try.” Ward said as he turned in his seat to look at Skye, the sadness in his eyes very obvious.

 

Skye’s face fell and she couldn’t look Ward in the eyes.  She took a couple deep breaths before looking back up at him and apologizing, “I’m sorry, Ward. I—I really was going to go to all of them.  I just couldn’t do it today. I couldn’t deal with everyone today.”

 

Ward noticed the last part of this was said while she was playing with one of the holes forming in her jeans. Skye was quiet and wouldn’t look at him and just kept tugging on the bottom of her shirt.  He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, “What’s this all about, Skye?”

 

Skye opened her mouth, and then quickly shut it before shrugging off his arm and sitting up. He knew better than to push her when she was in this kind of mood, he had to explain the black eye to everyone he saw for a week the last time he tried.  Instead of arguing, Ward just started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. It wasn’t until they got out onto the road that Skye spoke up, “I’ll take back the dibs.”

 

“What?” Ward asked, legitimately confused by Skye’s statement.

 

“I’ll take back the dibs. You go for her.”

 

“Go for her? Oh!” Ward exclaimed, finally understanding what Skye meant, “Why would you do that? You were so excited you beat me on this one.”

 

“I don’t think I’m really her type. And—“ Skye cut herself off as she played with the edge of her shirt again, “And it’s not like I would actually ask or anything.  You should take a shot.”

 

“What’s gotten into you? You were all into her earlier, and then when you actually meet her, and she’s a sweet girl, you just drop off like this?  I know you’re shy and all that, but this is a new level.  And what do you mean you aren’t her type?”

 

“I just don’t think she’s into me, is all.  I don’t even know if she’s into girls.  She’s just all pretty and British and fancy.” Skye accented all this by pulling at loose strings coming off her jeans.

 

By this time they had reached Ward’s house and he pulled into the driveway and turned the car off. He turned towards Skye and tried to get her to look at him, “Skye.  What’s this really about?”

 

“I told you. It’s just that—“

 

“That’s bull. I know it as well as you. Now come on, tell me.” Ward interrupted her then put his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him.

 

Skye looked up at Ward with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.  She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.  She refused to let herself cry, especially over something like this.  “I just,” Skye stumbled over her words, “I just don’t want her to think I’m the stray little puppy everyone else thinks I am.  Everyone looks at me and just sees the little girl in the old, torn up clothes hiding behind you.”

 

Skye finally let the tears roll down her cheeks and Ward held her against his chest.  They sat in this position for a couple minutes before Ward pulled her back from him and looked her in the face.  He waited for Skye to bring her eyes up to his and said, “Skye, you are not some little stray dog.  You are a smart, charming, and, don’t get a big head here, beautiful girl.” Skye laughed at the last comment, “And whoever says anything else can deal with me.”

 

“Thanks, Ward.” Skye mumbled.

 

“But since when have you cared about your clothes?”

 

Skye laughed, “Um, since about noon today, I guess.”

 

“Why would you suddenly care now?” Ward asked, extremely puzzled, before a flash of understanding reached his face, “This is about Simmons, isn’t it?  It’s because how she was dressed?”

 

Ward lightly chuckled and Skye smacked him on the chest, “Don’t laugh at me.  She was all dressed up and proper, sitting up all straight. She’s like the exact opposite of me. Give her a week and she’ll forget about me.  Keeping hanging out with that boyfriend of hers, Fitz.”

 

That comment brought Ward to tears, from laughing that is.  Skye entered a state of confusion instantaneously, “What is so funny, Ward?”

 

“Fitz and Simmons are not dating. I asked Fitz about that and he looked at me like I asked him if he liked making out with his dog. They are definitely not together.”

 

That caused a small grin to spread across Skye’s face, though she didn’t think that comparing Simmons to a dog was funny at all, “You are such a jerk, you know that?”

 

“If I was such a jerk, then would I have also asked Fitz about her availability?” Ward asked slyly as he got out of the car and began walking to the house.

 

Skye jumped out of the car and chased after Ward screaming his name.  She finally reached him and tackled him just as he got inside the door. “Hey you two don’t break anything in here!” A female voice came from around the corner.

 

“Sorry Mom!” Ward yelled back.

 

“Sorry Mrs. Ward! Your son is just being a jerk to me!” Skye yelled as she stuck her tongue out at Ward.

 

“Now Grant, what are you doing to torture Skye this time?”

 

“Nothing! Skye’s just being a baby because she has a crush on the new kid.” Ward replied with his tongue shooting out at Skye.

 

“Ward!” Skye roared as she dove at him and tried to tackle him to the ground again.

 

This attempt was not as effective as the first one, because Ward knew what was coming.  He was able to catch her mid-dive and put her over his shoulder. Ward carried Skye, as she flailed and yelled at him, into the kitchen where he found his mother at the sink. He put Skye down next to the kitchen table, which earned him a punch in the stomach, and then walked over to give his mom a kiss on the cheek.  “So, who is this new girl you mentioned, Grant?” Mrs. Ward asked shooting a smiling glance to Skye.

 

“She goes by Simmons, and she’s a cute little British girl.” Ward replied with a teasing smile on his face and his eyes lit up.

 

“Simmons?  That sounds like a last name.  Skye, dear, did you catch her first name?”

 

Skye froze and frowned because she had never even thought about it, “Um, no.  I guess I didn’t.”

 

“Well, I did.” Ward smiled, “Her name is Jemma Simmons.”

 

“Jemma.” Skye whispered to herself, enjoying the way it rolled off her tongue.

 

The bright smile slowly stretching across Skye’s face was not missed by Ward, though he decided to let it slide. Instead, he decided he was going to bring up something else, “Yeah, but she dresses a little too fancy for my taste. She definitely has a certain fashion sense about her.  Well, so Skye says. I didn’t really notice”

 

Skye’s face went as red as she could even imagine.  She stood up from the table she had taken a seat at and went to walk away.  She was stopped in her tracks when something caught Mrs. Ward’s eye, “Skye.  What happened to your shoe?”

 

Skye looked down at her feet and saw that the slight tear near the sole of her left shoe had stretched to the point that her foot could almost slide out.  “Dang.  I liked these shoes.” Skye whined.

 

“It’s okay, darling. Later today we can go out shopping and get you some new ones.  Plus, if you want,” Mrs. Ward said with a wink, “we could get you some new outfits to impress this new girl.”

 

Skye’s mouth went dry. She mumbled for a moment before finally forming words, “You don’t have to do that.  It’s fine.”

 

“Nonsense.” Ward took an opportunity to jump back into the conversation, “Mom loves shopping, and with me as her only kid she didn’t exactly have a lot of chances for that.”

 

“Grant’s right. Well, mostly at least.” Mrs. Ward said as she walked over to Skye and hugged her, “I like to think I have two children now.”

 

Skye’s blush that had not dropped since she entered the house burned even brighter.  Ward was grinning after his mom left the room, even after dealing with a barrage of punches from Skye.  He just laughed and said, “I’m not all bad to you, you know. So I did quiz Fitz a little about Simmons.”

 

Skye cocked an eyebrow at him and clenched her fists.  Ward was plagued by another fit of laughter and just smiled at Skye as she followed him to the stairs leading to the basement.  She was sliding off her now torn shoes when Ward stopped his trip downstairs to turn towards her, “I asked him about the chances of a relationship and he told me ‘fat chance’.  He said she’s really into her studies, so doesn’t usually bother with stuff like that.” Skye’s shoulders unconsciously slumped upon hearing this, “But, he may have mentioned something about a relationship last year and he may have used the word ‘girlfriend’.”

 

And with that he was down the stairs, leaving Skye to process his words.  When it clicked with her what word had said, her smile was ear to ear as she bounced on the balls of her feet and then actually made a small jump. She planned to find a way to force Fitz’s exact words out of Ward later, but for now she only had one thought in her mind.  _I actually have a chance!_


	2. Will You Even Look Back When You Think of Me?

Ward’s basement was Skye’s hideaway.  His house is where she ran away to when whatever foster home she was in became too much for her to deal with, and at this point the basement was allocated to her. She slept down there, she kept her laptop down there, and her and Ward hung out most of the time down there. The Ward family had a pool table in their basement, along with a skee-ball game, like you find in arcades. These were behind the couch that sat in front of the television; the couch being where Ward found himself sitting right before Skye pounced on him.

 

            Ward was leaned back into the couch with his eyes closed and a proud grin on his face.  He found that teasing Skye like he was today brought him way more joy than it really should. It was all in good fun, and he’d eventually spill all the details he could get his hands on, but for now it was nice to see the frustration and embarrassment on Skye’s face. His train of thought was utterly derailed when Skye jumped over the back of the couch and knocked him to the ground.

 

            Ward landed on his stomach with his hands above his head and Skye on his back. The younger girl sat up and straddled his midsection before punching him in the shoulder.  Skye leaned down over him and sing-songed a question to him, “So, what did you and Fitz talk about today?”

 

            Ward moved his hands under his head and sang back, “Oh, nothing really. Just getting to know the new kid.”

 

            Skye punched him again as Ward laughed, “You think you’re really funny, don’t you?”

 

            Ward kicked his feet up and lightly kicked Skye in the back as he did his best to look up at her with a Cheshire grin, “I think I’m adorable. But flattery will get you nowhere, little girl.”

 

            Skye could get angry at Ward, not just for holding out information but also for calling her “little girl”, but she knew something about him that no one else did.  She looked directly into Ward’s eyes with a smirk and began to stretch her fingers. The realization of what was going through Skye’s mind hit Ward like a ton of bricks.  “Oh no you don’t!” he shouted as he tried to roll over.

 

            His reaction was too late, however, as Skye reached down to his sides and found Ward’s one glaring weakness.  Grant Ward, six foot-two inch star quarterback for the Stan Lee High School Shields, was ticklish.  Ward tried to hold back the laughter as he fought to throw Skye off him, but to no avail. Between Ward’s attempts to roll over, and overtop his fits of laughter, Skye was screaming at him to tell her what he knew.

 

This scuffle lasted for a few minutes, ending when Mrs. Ward shouted down the stairs for the two of them to be quiet.  Ward and Skye glared at each other for a moment before climbing back onto the couch. The room was silent for only a minute before Skye went back to questioning Ward over his conversation with Fitz, finally just stating, “You’re going to tell me what he said.”

 

“Oh really now?  I am?” Ward replied, raising an eyebrow at Skye.

 

“Yeah, you are.” Skye said, putting on the best puppy dog face she could, “Because you love me and you don’t want me to worry any more.”

 

Ward just laughed and shook his head, “You know that face doesn’t work on me Skye, why do you even try anymore?”

 

She crawled over to him and laid her head in his lap, looking up at him with wide eyes and a pout on her face, “Please, Grant?”

 

Ward could barely contain his laughter before pushing Skye off the couch. Skye rolled off the couch and screamed as she fell to the ground.  She sat up quickly and shot Ward a look that could kill then jumped back onto the couch next to him.  She sat facing Ward and smacked her hands onto her thighs, “I’m not going to beg Ward, but please?”

 

Ward let himself actually laugh at how she dragged out the word please, but grabbed her hand and acquiesced to her request.  He sat up straight and took a deep breath, wasting as much time as he could solely because he knew it would annoy Skye.  She smacked his arm and when he looked over at her, he saw something that looked almost like desperation in her eyes.  Ward felt his heart soften when he saw that look and decided to stop torturing her, “Fitz didn’t say much, just that he’s from Glasgow originally then moved to Sheffield a couple years ago.  He met Simmons there and they became friends because they’re the only ones that can keep up with each other.  They came here as part of a college thing and so they will be spending the rest of their high school time at Stan Lee.”

 

Skye looked off into the distance for a moment before nodding her head, “Okay, so what did he say about Simmons particularly?”

 

Ward scratched his head, “He said she’s probably the smarter of the two, but only because she likes homework more than life itself.”  Skye laughed at this. “She’s apparently going into biochemistry, and he’s going to be an engineer.  He also mentioned that she may have been in a relationship last year, but he’s not sure.”

 

“Not sure?” Skye asked with a look that said she was utterly confused.

 

“I was wondering how he couldn’t know and he said that Simmons and this girl were hanging out a lot and seemed to have feelings for each other, but he was never told anything.”

 

Skye sat thoughtfully for a little while, just looking down at her lap. Ward sat next to her, quietly observing, before she made a move.  She sat up straight and looked Ward in the eyes, “Be honest with me, Grant.”

 

“About what?” Ward was put a little off guard seeing as he was pretty sure this was the only time she had used his first name without making fun of him.

 

“Do you think,” Skye started before looking down and taking a quick breath, “Do you think she would ever be interested in me?”

 

Ward smiled and wrapped his arm around Skye’s shoulders, “I think she’d be stupid not to.”

 

Skye leaned into him and smiled as she snuggled up under his shoulder. Ward turned the TV on and they sat and surfed the channels while the smell of pork chops wafted through the house. There wasn’t anything that interested them on TV, but that didn’t really matter because there was quickly a challenge thrown at Ward, “I bet I can beat you at eight-ball.”

 

“In your dreams.  I crushed you last time.” Ward says as he pushes Skye away and jumps over the couch towards the pool table.

 

Skye follows close behind and grabs the pool cues as he racked up the pool balls. “So what are we playing for?” Ward asked.

 

“I don’t know.  What do you got?” Skye replied, a mischievous grin on her face.

 

An evil grin crossed Ward’s face as an even more evil thought ran through his head. “We could always play for dibs.” He said with a wink.

 

Skye’s jaw dropped open and her eyes went wide.  She gasped for words but couldn’t seem to form an intelligible phrase. “Skye.  I was just kidding.  We won’t—“

 

“Let’s do it.” Skye cut him off with a steely voice.

 

“What?” Ward couldn’t believe his ears, “I was not serious, Skye.”

 

“Let’s play. Winner gets dibs on Simmons.” Skye looked Ward in the eyes.

 

He couldn’t read her expression, but he could tell she wasn’t going to back off on this, “Alright, they’re racked up.  You wanna break?”

 

Skye walked around the table and took the opening shot, one that did not pan out well for her.  Ward carefully stepped around to get the right angle on his shot before Skye spoke up, seemingly reading his mind, “Don’t even think about taking it easy on me.”

 

Ward closed his eyes and tightened his lips.  He bent over the table to take his shot but paused and stood back up, “What’s this about Skye?”

 

“You offered it up, I took it.  That’s it. Now play.” Skye said, almost too forcefully for Ward to believe her.

 

The game seemed to go back and forth for a few minutes until Ward started to gain an advantage.  When he saw how the game was going, he chanced a sneaky look at Skye.  She was biting her lip and shaking her leg. The look in her eyes was caught somewhere between relief and sadness.  Ward blinked as he realized why she was doing this, but shook the thought clear of his head.  As he took his shot, Mrs. Ward shouted down at them, “Come on up guys!  Dinner’s ready!”

 

Ward’s shot went just off target and bounced around before settling harmlessly on the side of the table.  He let go of a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as he stood up.  The same look was in Skye’s eyes as before and he said, “Let’s just call it a draw.”

 

“So, what does that mean for the dibs?” Skye almost whispered across the table to him.

 

Ward shrugged his shoulders and set the pool cue down, “I guess it stays where it is.” He walked by and patted her on the shoulder.

 

Skye followed Ward up the stairs and to the kitchen, where they sat down at the table while Mrs. Ward set plates in front of them.  The meal was quiet, even after Mrs. Ward joined them, but it was a silence that could barely be considered awkward.  Grant finished his food quickly and dropped his plate into the sink, saying over his shoulder that he was going to drive up to the football field to meet with Tripp and some of the other players.  His mother told him to be safe as she cleaned her plate up from the table and looked at Skye.  “Are you okay, honey?”

 

Skye looked up from the plate she had only cleared about half of, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

Mrs. Ward picked up Skye’s plate and began the cleaning process.  Skye began to leave but then, right before exiting the room, spun on her heels and stood contemplating for a moment.  “Carrie?” Skye muttered, using Mrs. Ward’s first name for almost the first time ever.

 

“Yes, dear?” Mrs. Ward said as she turned around and smiled at Skye.

 

“Were you serious about taking me out shopping for shoes?” Here Skye paused for a moment, “And for the other stuff too?”

 

Mrs. Ward beamed at her, as Skye looked up at her hopefully, “Of course I was. If you want to go, I’d love to. Just give me a minute to finish cleaning up.”

 

Skye smiled up at Mrs. Ward and ran to go find her bag in the basement with her other pair of shoes.

 

Skye had slid on the old, beat up pair of shoes before realizing what they were and smiling.  She was putting on her old pair of gray Converse shoes that, amazingly, still fit. All she could think about were the bright red Converse that Simmons had been wearing that day. It took a few moments of this thought process before Skye knew what she was doing.  Even in the basement all by herself she began to blush. As she felt the heat rise to her cheeks she shook her head and wondered how this girl was affecting her this way. She had literally had one actual conversation with Simmons, and didn’t even know her first name until Ward told her later, but Simmons was invading almost every thought she had. It wasn’t until Mrs. Ward called down to her, asking if she was ready to go, that she realized that she had been sitting thinking for a while.  She replied in the positive and ran up the stairs.

 

Malls make Skye uncomfortable.  She has never been a fan of crowds or shopping for that matter, and these buildings just combined the two.  Malls also contained the people from school, nearly all of which she would rather avoid. Skye even wants to avoid the people she likes today.  She can’t quite put her finger on why she’s feeling extra anti-social.  That is, until she gets into the mall and actually runs into the last person she wanted to bump into.

 

Mrs. Ward and Skye had already found a brightly colored pair of running shoes that Skye liked, and now onto the hard part.  Skye had no idea what was in fashion, or what was cool; she just knew that her clothes were comfortable.  Her fear must have been obvious when her and Mrs. Ward walked into the store, because Mrs. Ward just chuckled at her.  “You’re not really into clothes shopping are you?”

 

“Not at all. I just wear what’s comfy.” Skye whispered as she struggled to take in her surroundings.

 

Mrs. Ward just laughed again and put her hand on Skye’s shoulder, “I’m sure we can find something that’s comfy, and can impress your new friend.”

 

Skye felt herself blush at the very mention of Simmons’ existence and the true reasoning behind this trip.  The next hour was a blur in Skye’s mind. Colors flashed before her eyes, fabrics blended together against her skin, and she still had no idea what she was looking for.  Skye pulled a bright blue and white plaid shirt over her shoulders and buttoned it up. _What am I even doing,_ she questioned as she shook her head at her reflection in the mirror.  Skye stepped out of the dressing room and saw Mrs. Ward facing the opposite direction and talking on her phone.  From the sound of it, Mr. Ward would be late getting home from work, so Skye wasn’t going to even try to interrupt that conversation.  She was trying to decide whether to wait for Mrs. Ward to turn around or just go back into the dressing room when someone’s shoulder ran against her own. “Oh, I am so sorry!”

 

Skye had her eyes closed, but she recognized that voice immediately. There weren’t that many girls in this town with a British accent, in fact, Skye could only think of one. Her eyes shot open and she stumbled trying to form a sentence, “No, it’s—it’s okay—no big deal.”

 

Suddenly there was the same brilliant smile Skye had seen earlier that very day, and her awe of the feature had not dimmed in the slightest.  Simmons was standing in front of her, that smile gracing her face, and holding a small stack of pants in her arms.  “Oh, Skye, how serendipitous it is seeing you here.”

 

Skye just eyed the collection of jeans and dress pants in the arms of the other girl. _Serendipitous? Is this girl even real?_ Skye’s hands flexed as she thought this and she just quietly replied, “Yeah, what do you know?”

 

“Are you trying on this shirt?”

 

“What?” The question caught Skye by surprise, “Oh, this.  Um, yeah.”

 

Skye bit her lip before she could blurt out something stupid.  Simmons just smiled and adjusted the clothes in her arms so that she could pull at Skye’s sleeve,  “It looks really good on you.  I’d suggest a size smaller though, it’s a little baggy.”

 

Skye could feel a slight heat on her neck and knew that she would start blushing if she wasn’t careful.  She just looked down at her feet and offered a thanks.  The pair stood in a momentary silence before Skye’s thoughts began to flow out her mouth, “I was looking at some other stuff, but I’m no good at fashion and stuff and maybe you could take a look and help me out.” Skye froze after she realized what happened and attempted to do damage control, “I mean, if you want, you don’t have to.  It’s just that you seem to have a really good eye for this kind of thing and I really don’t.”

 

Skye clenched her hands and eyes shut.  _So much for damage control, that just made it worse_ , she thought when she realized how quickly she had let all that fly.  But, despite her worries, Simmons just beamed even brighter than before and was possibly a shade of pink she hadn’t quite been before.  “I’d be happy to help Skye.  I’m not sure I’d consider myself to have an eye for fashion, but I’ll look with you.”

 

Skye smiled and looked Simmons in the face for the first time this conversation. She walked back over to the dressing room, with Simmons right on her heels, and began to display some of the various shirts and jackets she had picked out.  The two discussed the clothes and divided them into separate piles, Simmons decided that Skye picked everything at least a size too large. They began to collect the clothes that they had found acceptable and went to find them in a smaller size. Up until Skye stepped back out of the dressing room, she had all but forgotten that Mrs. Ward was even in the mall. When the two high schoolers walked back into the main section of the store, Mrs. Ward called for Skye. Skye nearly dropped the clothes she held in her hands in surprise.  Mrs. Ward walked toward Skye and Simmons and when she saw that Skye was not alone a grin spread across her face.  “Skye, I see you found a friend to help you out while I was busy.”

 

“Yeah, I did.” Skye bounced awkwardly from foot to foot, “Um, Mrs. Ward, this is Simmons. Simmons, this is Mrs. Ward.”

 

Skye had carried all her clothes, so Simmons just had the pants and such she was carrying earlier, which she could easily adjust to give herself the ability to shake Mrs. Ward’s hand.  “Mrs. Ward? You would be, um, Grant Ward’s mother?”

 

“I am. And this is the Simmons I heard about today?”  Mrs. Ward spared a short glance to Skye.

 

“The Simmons?” Simmons squeaked out as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

 

“Ward mentioned you and Fitz earlier.  It’s not like we get a bunch of new kids around here.” Skye quickly explained before clenching her jaw and raising her eyebrows at Mrs. Ward.

 

“Yes, my Grant was excited to see new faces.  I’m sure he’s hoping to see you and your friend at the game on Friday.” Mrs. Ward focused on Simmons with a smile.

 

“Yes, the football game.  Well, American football. He mentioned that he played. But I’m afraid Fitz and I don’t really understand American football.”  Simmons seemed excited to be talking about any topic other than her.

 

“Yeah, he’s practicing right now.  But, not knowing isn’t a big deal, I’m sure Skye could show you the ropes. Actually, Grant might be home by now. Skye, why don’t we head back?” Mrs. Ward asked as she checked her watch.

 

“Um, okay.” Skye responded quietly, while looking at the floor.  She didn’t want to stay in the mall and give herself, or Mrs. Ward, the chance to embarrass herself any more, but she also wasn’t exactly ready to stop being able to see Simmons’ face yet.

 

“Yes, I should be going as well.  It was nice to meet you Mrs. Ward, and good to see you Skye.  I’ll see you tomorrow in class.  Goodbye.”  Simmons smiled as she turned around and walked off without a glance back at Skye and Mrs. Ward.

 

After Simmons had taken the corner, Skye looked up at Mrs. Ward, who was smiling down at Skye, “She’s a cutie.”

 

Skye had lost count of how many times she had blushed today, but the tally kept adding up.  Skye muttered something about getting different sizes for the clothes and walked over to the clothes racks.  She replaced her oversized clothes and walked to the register with Mrs. Ward. The walk and car ride back were silent, except for the radio that Mrs. Ward had turned on to a Top 40 station, while Skye tried to get the blush that was still lightly lingering on her face to go away. 

 

They arrived back at the Wards’ house and Skye quickly took the bags they got at the mall to the basement.  Skye really just wanted a second by herself to take a deep breath and let her embarrassment finally settle down.  That’s exactly what she did when she reached the bottom of the stairs and threw the bags into the corner. As she exhaled a small smile crossed her face, but was immediately replaced with a frown. “What’s wrong, kid?”

 

Skye actually jumped into the air and barely repressed a scream at the sound of Grant’s voice.  “Grant Ward, I am going to kill you one of these days.  I thought I was alone down here.”

 

Ward had been lying down on the couch, but had sat up when he heard Skye’s big breath. He just smirked and swung his feet off the couch when he saw the anger on her face.  Skye stood still, the slight frown returning along with a crease in her forehead that Ward knew meant she was thinking.  Ward patted the seat next to him on the couch and looked expectantly at Skye.  She huffed out a quick breath and jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to him. “So,” Ward began, “What has you thinking so hard?”

 

“I’m not thinking hard about anything.”  Skye defended.

 

Ward flicked his thumb across her forehead and raised an eyebrow at her. Skye smacked his hand but let a smile tug at her lips.  He couldn’t help but tease her a little more, so he ran his finger along where the crease previously was and whispered “Simba!”

 

Skye responded promptly by swiftly punching him in the ribs.  The soft grunt that caused was enough for Skye to feel that it accomplished her goal.  Ward wrapped his arm around her shoulders and asked again, “Skye, what’s bothering you?”

 

“Right now it’s you.”  Skye said, as she looked up and pursed her lips at him, “What’s gotten into you today? You’re acting weird.”

 

“Well it isn’t everyday your little sister gets a new crush.” Ward smiled back at her.

 

“I’m not your little sister.” Skye pushed Ward away, completely avoiding the other part of the statement.

 

“You are, and you know and love it.”

 

“I’m not your family, and you know it.”

 

Ward pulled her against his chest and kissed the crown of her head, “Family doesn’t end with blood.  You are family.”

 

The basement was silent for a few minutes as the two of them sat on the couch. Ward mindlessly twirled Skye’s hair around his finger and she bit her lip, trying to fight the urge to punch him again.  He had just called her family, and that meant a lot to Skye.  The two of them could sit in silence and never feel awkward; they had just spent enough time together that those feelings faded away.  Spending that much time together also meant that they could almost read each other’s minds.  That is how Skye knew that Ward was about to ask her what was bothering her for the third time that hour.  “It’s just that I don’t know what’s going on with myself today.”

 

Ward nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about.  “You caught the love bug, that’s what.”

 

Skye shook her head, “This is different though.  I’ve had crushes before, I’ve fallen for girls, but this is just different. I mean, I called dibs because she was pretty, but I’ve spent all day, like, obsessed with her. It’s just so weird, I’ve only talked to her like three times.”

 

“So what, you don’t believe in love at first sight?” Ward slightly teased.

 

Skye elbowed him and sighed, “Not really.  And then she ran into me at the mall and I could barely look at her.”

 

“She was at the mall?” Ward sat up straighter and Skye knew that an evil grin had crawled onto his face.

 

“Yes, and your mother seemed to be on a mission to embarrass me.”

 

“What did she do?”

 

“Well for one, she called her ‘The Simmons’ when I introduced her.”

 

Ward had to pull his arm away from around Skye as he laughed.  Laughing to the point where he almost fell off the couch. Skye rolled her eyes and scooted to the other side of the couch.  Ward was finally able to contain his laughter and sit back up straight. He spoke in-between short breaths when he spoke, “How’d that go?”

 

“I tried my best to do damage control, I think I did pretty good.” Skye said as she rolled up into a ball on the couch, “Though I may have to spend the game Friday explaining ‘American football’ to Fitz and Simmons.”

 

Ward laughed again and stood up, “I’m going to get a shower and go to bed. Get some sleep, shorty.”

 

Ward tossed Skye her pillows and blankets that she kept at the house and walked up the stairs.  After she had set up her little bed there on the couch and turned the lights out, she could still hear Ward’s voice along with his mother’s.  She could only imagine their topic of conversation was the one that seemed to be everybody’s favorite that day.  Skye knew she wouldn’t get to sleep anytime soon, so she decided the best thing to do was to get on the Internet.  Some time on Tumblr or Reddit could help her settle down.  She eventually found her way to Facebook and looked up the name Jemma Simmons. 

 

Her profile picture was of her and Fitz in lab coats and goggles. _How can she manage to make that look cute?_   Skye pondered the question as she continued to scroll through Simmons’ page.  She considered sending her a friend request, but thought better of it.  It was then that Skye subconsciously moved her cursor over the ‘Photos’ tab and clicked.  She was met with a couple hundred pictures of Simmons, most including Fitz as well. As she started to click through the photographs she could feel a small smile forming as she saw all the pictures of Simmons’ bright smile.  It was around that time that Skye also felt her eyes getting heavy, and before she knew what was happening, she was asleep.

 

Skye awoke the next day to the sound of Ward’s voice and the smell of waffles. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

 

Skye’s eyes adjusted from her sleeping state to see Ward standing over her with her laptop in his hands.  Her eyes went from adjusting and barely staying open to as wide as they could be as soon as she remembered the last thing she was looking at.  “Ward!  Give me that!”

 

He cocked an eyebrow at her and then continued to look at the screen, “You must not be that interested in her.  I mean you are Facebook stalking her and all, but you didn’t even make it to the pictures from this summer.”

 

Skye’s eyes lit up, but she quickly arched her eyebrows at Ward, “Shut up.”

 

He shrugged his shoulders and closed the laptop and set it on the end table. “Just saying.” He walked towards the stairs, “Get up and ready, mom’s making breakfast.  By the way, she looks good in a swimsuit.”

 

Skye spun around to glare at him for that last comment, but he was already up the stairs. She ran her hands through her hair and looked for what to wear that day.  She eyed the pile of bags in the corner and thought, _what the heck_.  She picked out the bright blue shirt she had been trying on when Simmons ran into her, a size smaller of course, and a pair of jeans with a blue tank top that went oddly well with the shirt she had decided on.  After getting dressed she tied her new shoes onto her feet, happy with how comfortable they already felt.  Skye moved towards the stairs but froze at the bottom step.  Turning back to the room, she saw her laptop and couldn’t help herself.

 

She ran over and opened it.  Ward wasn’t lying when he mentioned the pictures from the summer.  The one he had stopped on was apparently taken by Fitz, he wasn’t in the picture, and was of Simmons lying in a lounge chair on a pool deck. The caption mentioned something about her needing some sun, but Skye didn’t pay too much attention. Simmons was wearing a light green one-piece swimsuit, a modest choice that Skye shouldn’t have been surprised about, and seemed to be adjusting the big sunglasses on her face. Skye stared for a moment longer than she probably should have, then shook her head.  She closed the laptop, not before leaving Simmons’ page, and ran up the stairs.

 

Ward had a knowing smile on his face when she reached the kitchen and she just glared at him. Mrs. Ward was just putting the plates of waffles on the table and the older woman looked up at Skye. A big grin stretched her face, “Oh Skye, that outfit is really cute on you.”

 

Skye looked down, she had left the shirt unbuttoned and decided to leave it that way. She thanked Mrs. Ward and sat down to start eating.  Her and Ward ate quickly so they could finish getting ready and get to school on time. It wasn’t much longer before the pair climbed into Ward’s car and took off to the school.  The two-story building loomed in front of them as they pulled into the parking lot.  The silence in the car was heavy before Ward broke it, “Are you actually going to go to your classes today?”

 

“I will, Ward.” Skye said as she looked into her bag.

 

“I’m serious, Skye.  You need to stop skipping out on these classes.”

 

“I know. I promise I’ll go.”

 

Ward let a smile cross his face as he opened the car door and stepped out, “If you break that promise, I’m going to find a way to get back at you.”

 

“And how do you propose doing that?” Skye cocked an eyebrow at Ward.

 

Ward thought silently for a quick moment, then inspiration hit, “I could always just talk to Simmons for you.”

 

The message behind those words was more of a threat than a friendly offering of help. Skye didn’t miss the hidden message and the fear was evident, the confidence of just a moment ago far gone. “You wouldn’t dare. What happened to the whole little sister family thing?”

 

“I’m looking out for your best interests, and if that’s what it takes then that’s what I’ll do.”

 

“I promise I will go to every class!  All week even! Just don’t do that to me. Please!”

 

Ward just walked away and left her standing by the car.  She jumped when he hit the button on his keys to lock the car, causing the horn to go off.  Skye followed him into the building, bracing herself for what she thought would be a very long day.  When she got to her locker she took a deep breath and braced herself for the brutal ride ahead.

 

Skye felt like she couldn’t even breathe until lunch.  Everything had been so boring today.  She made it through all her classes so far, and could only hope to make it to the end of the day.  The meal of the day was grilled cheese, but Skye knew that somehow the cafeteria could still screw that up.  Her tray made a loud noise as she dropped it onto the table in front of her and pulled her laptop out of her bag.  The others made their way to the table, Ward first then Fitz and Simmons together, but Skye barely acknowledged them.  Skye kept her eyes on her screen, only speaking up in conversation when something was directed at her, but she couldn’t completely ignore the people around her.

 

Skye’s eyes kept drifting to one part of the screen.  The code she was looking at left that part of the screen black. That section of screen, however, held something very interesting to Skye.  The way the computer was placed allowed that section to reflect the face of the person sitting next to her.  While the reflection didn’t quite catch all the nuances of Simmons’ face and smile, it was enough to keep distracting Skye.  All too soon, the time came for the group to go their separate ways. Skye and Simmons were stuck together though.

 

There were two reasons Skye actually enjoyed this class.  For one, it was a computer class and that obviously garnered her interest.  The other reason was the teacher.  Mr. Stark was a genius, and no one doubted it in any way.  The thing about this genius was that he didn’t seem to care. This Tuesday, Mr. Stark had brought in a toy he created.  It was a chair he had made that floated and was controlled by his phone; with the help of the app Stark had created, called J.A.R.V.I.S.  The introduction of the chair to the class gave Mr. Stark the reason he needed to not teach anything today and just give the students the day off.

 

Skye was enjoying watching Mr. Stark buzz the heads of his students on his chair with JARVIS telling him that he really should stop in the British accent that he had been given. As Skye watched and listened she thought about the accent the app had, and how much more she liked Simmons’ version.  It was as she was thinking this that she got to hear her preferred accent.  “Oh Fitz would love this.”

 

Skye broke out of the daze she had been in while watching the teacher flying across the room and stared over at Simmons, “What?”

 

Simmons was smiling at Mr. Stark’s antics, and looked over to Skye, “Fitz would love to see Mr. Stark’s chair.”

 

“Oh. It is pretty cool.” Skye did her best to avert her eyes from Simmons’ smile and back up to the flying teacher.

 

“He’s really into all the technical aspects of things.  You two would probably get along quite well.”

 

“Maybe.” Skye muttered.

 

“By the way, that outfit looks really good.  I told you that you needed a size smaller.” Simmons said with a slight giggle.

 

Skye felt her face heat up just as the bell rung to signal the end of class. She let a barely intelligible thanks stumble out as she threw her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of the room. Even in her hurry to escape the awkward situation and feelings that she was having, Skye couldn’t help but look back at Simmons on the way out the door.  As Skye looked over her shoulder, she saw that the smile had slipped from Simmons’ face and had become a thoughtful frown.  Skye tried not to let her mind dwell on why that could be as she rushed off to her next class.

 

Skye couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day.  Instead, she spent her time in class thinking about Simmons’ smile, and the idea that she really didn’t like when it wasn’t there. _Why does it even bother me?_ Skye asked herself as she thought back to the frown on Simmons’ face earlier that day, and the pain in her chest when the image crept into her mind. Skye was following this train of thought as she walked to her locker before her final class of the day. She pushed her hand through her hair and rubbed her eyes when she reached her locker, seeing a shadow fall upon the area when she opened them again.  Her body turned quickly, seemingly of its own accord, to see Ward standing behind her.  “Ward! You snuck up on me.” She uttered in surprise, shaking her head.

 

“I shouldn’t have, I called your name like three times.”

 

Skye’s eyebrows bunched together and her mouth fell open as she considered that statement, “I must have been farther inside my own world than I thought.”

 

“I’ll say. What what’s weighing on your mind? Or better yet, in your hair.” Ward asked as her ran his hand through Skye’s hair, trying to comb down the wild mane she had created since lunch.

 

Skye had to remember to pay attention to how she was messing with her hair; otherwise it looked like she had just been through the center of a tornado. She smacked Ward’s hand away as she wished she had a mirror in her locker like so many of the girls in school did, “Nothing.  Just these stupid classes.”

 

Ward stroked his chin in a sarcastically thoughtful manner, “I’d be wiling to bet that your deep trip into Wonderland this time had to do with _Doctor Who_.”

The confusion on Skye’s face must have been evident as Ward’s grin stretched across his face.  “I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.”  Skye uttered in exasperation.

 

“You can’t tell me you didn’t notice your girlfriend’s new accessories today.”

 

Ward received a very rough punch in the arm and a steady glare at the mention of the word girlfriend.  The laugh that followed the punch was not at all what Skye wanted from him, but she should have expected it.  He was a football player, her punch in the arm was nothing compared to some of the hits she’d seen him take. Skye began to throw her books in the locker and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt back out. “Here, I’ll just end the suspense for you.” Ward smiled at her, “Simmons is wearing _Doctor Who_ earrings today.  They caught my attention at lunch and I mentioned them, I thought you would have noticed. They’re cool, a little TARDIS on each ear.”

 

“You don’t even watch _Doctor Who_.” Skye stated, while she tried to ignore yet another blush rising to her cheeks.

 

Honestly, Skye didn’t watch it either, but she enjoyed the few episodes she had seen. Plus David Tennant and Billie Piper weren’t so bad to look at.  Skye busied herself putting her hair into a ponytail and tried to ignore Ward’s presence, especially since she knew as soon as she tried to say something, he would bring up Simmons again.  She pulled her bag over her shoulder and tried to walk past Ward but he looped his arm around her waist and walked with her.

 

Ward continuously talked throughout the trip to the gymnasium, but Skye just tried to block him out.  It didn’t really matter to her what he was saying, mostly because she was just mad at him for now. Skye’s final class of the day was a “physical education” class.  Which basically meant Ward’s football coach yelled at her to run or told the kids to throw rubber balls at each other’s heads until class was over. Skye thought she could escape Ward once they reached the gym, but luck was not with her today. “Grant Ward! It’s about an hour before I should be seeing that smug face of yours.”

 

“Well Coach Garrett it looks like it’s your lucky day.” Ward smiled at his coach.

 

“I see you’ve brought your friend here.  She seems to have trouble finding this class some days.” Garrett said as he directed his eyes at Skye, who avoided his glare.

 

Ward spoke to Garrett as he pulled Skye against his side, “Well, we’ve had a talk about her attendance, so I think that should be better now.”

 

Garrett just smiled and said, “Alright.  Ward I’ll see you after school.  Miss Skye here needs to go get dressed, her and her classmates have a bit of running ahead of them.”

 

Skye held back from groaning and rolling her eyes, which was quite the struggle, and walked toward the locker room while Ward and Garrett finished their conversation. The curses running through Skye’s head might have been able to make Ward blush, but her mind went blank when she walked into the locker room.  Standing next to Skye’s usual locker, in the back corner of course, was someone taking off her earrings.  Of course those earrings were in the shape of a little TARDIS. _Could my luck be any worse today?_

 

Skye went to her locker and tried to open it quickly enough that Simmons didn’t see she was there.  The plan failed, of course. In her haste to open the locker door, Skye opened it a little too wide and hit Simmons in the elbow as she was placing her earrings on the shelf in the locker.  Simmons quietly yelped in surprise more than anything and looked over in Skye’s direction.  Skye closed her eyes and cursed herself.  _That question was not a challenge!_   “Skye?”

 

Skye did her best to put a small smile on her face and look over at Simmons, “Sorry about that.”

 

“It’s quite alright, it didn’t hurt any.” Simmons said with a smile, “I didn’t know you were in this class.  I didn’t see you yesterday.”

 

The question of why Simmons always had to be smiling passed through Skye’s head. That smile that made it really hard for Skye to think clearly.  “Yeah, I had something I had to do yesterday.  Couldn’t make it.”

 

“Well it’s good to know I have someone in this class who I know.” Simmons replied swiftly before beginning to remove her tie.

 

Skye suddenly realized she was probably staring, entranced, as Simmons began to get changed.  So she quickly turned her back and changed as quickly as she could.  When Skye turned around to go back to the gym, it hadn’t occurred to her that Simmons would still be there.  With much less manageable clothing, Simmons took much longer to change than Skye did and that left Skye with a view of Simmons flat stomach having a t-shirt pulled down over it.  The visual was ingrained in Skye’s mind and she was staring blankly into space as she re-watched it in her mind.  Her reverence was broken by Simmons lightly waving her fingers in front of Skye’s eyes. Skye rapidly blinked and the first thing she was able to focus on was Simmons smiling at her with a crooked eyebrow “Are you okay, Skye?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Just thinking.” Skye replied quickly while sliding past Simmons to leave the room.

 

Trying to slide past worked, but not entirely as far as Skye was concerned. During the act, the back of her hand brushed across Simmons’ fingers.  As she tried to avoid Simmons while doing laps of the gymnasium, Skye could feel the spot where Simmons’ fingers had touched tingling.  She would just shake her hand and try to push the image of Simmons stretching to pull her shirt on (or off, Skye couldn’t really tell what her mind was doing at this point) out of her mind.

 

It wasn’t until the trip back to the locker room that fear struck Skye. Even as heavy as she was breathing, her heart found a way to beat faster when she realized that she couldn’t avoid Simmons any longer.  Skye stared down her locker and quickly moved to it, thinking that she could get out of the room before Simmons had time to get there and talk to her.  She had momentarily forgotten that luck was very rarely on her side.  Simmons walked up next to her right as she opened her locker.  Skye’s eyes closed tightly as she internally cursed herself. “Skye?”

 

The voice pierced every thought she had.  She turned to see Simmons staring at her.  Her pale cheeks flushed from the exertion of running and a look in her eyes somewhere between curiosity and concern.  “Yeah Simmons?”

 

“Is there something wrong with your hand?”

 

Skye tilted her head and looked down at her hands, “Um, no?”

 

“Oh.” Simmons’ flush seemed to darken some, “It’s just that I saw you shake it a few times while running and then you seemed to grimace.”

 

Skye’s eyes widened.  _She was watching me?_   Hoping not to give away her real reasoning for the act Skye tried to shrug it off, “I didn’t even notice I was doing it.”

 

Simmons averted her eyes and began grabbing her clothes, “Well, um, that’s good. I was behind you and saw you shaking it and I was just wondering.  It’s good to hear that it’s nothing then.”

 

Skye could have smacked herself.  Of course Simmons was behind her.  She had been trying to keep away from Simmons so there was no chance of a conversation, and Skye had less of a chance of embarrassing herself, so Skye had kept ahead of Simmons as much as possible.  That’s how Simmons saw her; of course she wasn’t watching her.

 

Skye’s movements slowed as she ran through her thoughts.  She tried to push Simmons, and her disappointment in the fact that Simmons wasn’t actually paying extra attention to her, out of her mind. It seemed that the more she tried to push these thoughts out, the more pressing they became. “Well, I guess that’s all.”

 

Skye barely kept herself from jumping as she was, yet again, yanked out of her own mind. The British accent that could interrupt seemingly any thought Skye had pulled Skye’s eyes up to its source. Simmons was looking at Skye, smiling of course, as she pulled her bag on.  Skye was still stuffing her clothes into her bag but replied anyway, “I guess so.”

 

Simmons nodded awkwardly and looked as if she was going to speak, then decided against it.  She quickly found something else to say however, “Alright.  I will see you tomorrow then, Skye.”

 

“Yup. Same time, same place.”

 

Simmons smiled a little more, but the gesture was not reflected in her eyes, “Okay then. Goodbye Skye.”

 

With that, Simmons turned on her heels and slowly walked toward the door of the locker room. Skye watched her walk the entire distance, not knowing why.  At first, Skye was watching the way Simmons walked.  Her walk didn’t have any accentuated movements, like some girls threw their hips out; it was a walk with a purpose.  Skye found it very captivating even without Simmons trying to reach for attention.

 

Skye’s eyes found what they were searching for in the form of the back of Simmons’ head. It was in that moment that Skye realized why she was watching Simmons.  She wanted her to turn around like Skye had done earlier that day. Just a glance back at her was all Skye was hoping for.  It was not something she would get this day.

 

Skye couldn’t help but feel utterly disappointed by this.  It wasn’t some big display of affection she was asking for. She just wanted a look. Something to show Skye that maybe, just maybe, Simmons could possibly be interested in her. Skye was standing alone in the locker room, the last one to leave, when a nasty thought ran through her mind. _She didn’t even look back.  Why would she?  There’s nothing back here she’d even think twice about._


	3. You Could Crush Me...

The next day was quiet for Skye. Wednesday she didn’t even make it to school, something Ward was not overly happy about. He almost dragged her off her couch and up the stairs that morning. That plan was foiled when she looked up at him. In that one look he knew that she hadn’t slept at all that night and had spent it crying. Ward couldn’t bring himself to force her up after seeing that. Instead he just handed Skye her laptop and grabbed his phone to call the school. He would tell them she was ill and couldn’t make it that day, something he could only ever remember doing once before when it wasn’t the truth. 

The memory of Skye appearing at his window in the middle of the night so many years ago jumped into his head. Before he even got the window open he could see the bruises that had started to form on her body. Ward hadn’t even considered Skye going to school that day, in fact he wouldn’t have gone had Skye not pushed him to. That was the day he almost broke his arm at football practice. His mind was on Skye, he just wanted to check on her, so he wasn’t focused and let himself get hit, hard. The silver lining was that he got to see Skye sooner that way.

Ward shook this memory from his head before he let his anger rise. Leaving that thought behind allowed other memories to fill the space. Like when Skye had come out to him. It had been quite the surprise, frankly. She had been acting weird for a while before she told him, distancing herself from him as much as she could while still staying in his house. Skye had been really quiet during that time, often slipping into deep thought and ignoring everyone around her. It took over a week for Ward to convince her to talk to him. Not that she was very forthcoming with information when they did sit down and talk.

It had been on the very couch they had sat on this week when discussing Simmons. Skye began by talking about anything but herself. She talked about the football team, the news, and the newest episode of a TV show, whatever she could to stall. Ward eventually just grabbed her by the shoulders and asked her what was going on. “I don’t know, Ward.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I’m just not sure what is going on in my head right now.”

“Okay, so let’s talk it out.” Ward sat back as he said this, his eyes never leaving Skye’s.

Skye, on the other hand, wouldn’t meet Ward’s eyes, “I think—I may have a crush on someone.”

Ward knitted his brow, “A crush? That’s what this is about?”

“It’s not just a crush…”

“What makes it so different?”

Skye took a deep breath and met Ward’s eyes, but only for a second. Her face got red and she felt her heart begin to race. She felt like she might be sick. Ward’s hand on her shoulder had a surprisingly calming effect on her. She looked into his eyes and saw the look of concern reflected there. Her mouth seemed to act of it’s own accord as she just blurted out what she had been hiding from him, “I think I’m gay.”

Ward seemed stunned for a moment and Skye’s face burned. She jumped from her spot on the couch and ran toward the stairs. If she could make it to the bathroom without being stopped she could hide for a while, and maybe get rid of this sickly feeling. As she hit the bottom step, however, Skye heard Ward shout her name. Something made her stop and turn to him. Ward waved his hand for her to come back to the couch. She ducked her head, hoping her hair would hide her face and slowly walked back to him. Ward thought she looked like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs. When she reached the couch he wrapped his arm around her waist and looked up at her. “Skye. Look at me.”

Ward brushed her hair away from her face. Skye still wouldn’t meet his eyes. He took a deep breath and pulled her over the couch to him. She grunted but still didn’t say a word. “Hey, Skye, look at me.”

Skye wasn’t sure what she expected to see when she looked up, but it wasn’t what she got. Ward had a small smile on his face. She let her jaw drop in confusion and Ward saw it. “Alright Skye, who’s this crush on?”

When Skye responded, it was barely even a whisper, “Kitty.”

“Kitty Pryde?” Ward grinned.

Skye just looked down at her feet. Ward hugged her and whispered to her, “Well, she is cute. And she’s into computers too. You could’ve picked worse.”

That earned him a giggle and an elbow in the side. Skye smiled at him for the first time in at least a week. “So, you’re okay with this?”

Ward shrugged, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just worried. You know, some people don’t exactly accept that kind of thing.”

Ward feigned being insulted, “Now I’m just lumped in with those ‘some people’?”

Skye laughed and hugged him. He laughed back at her before saying something that caught her completely off guard; “Just think before you bring any of your girlfriends around here.”

Skye pushed back from Ward, her eyes wide, “W—Why?”

“Because they might take one look at this and change their mind.” Ward said as he put on his best flirting face and did a flexing pose.

Skye smacked him then put him in a headlock while laughing at him. They wrestled for some time, laughing and crashing to the floor. It wasn’t until they heard Mrs. Ward’s voice that they stopped. Ward sat laughing for a moment before he realized that Skye had frozen. She sat silently, looking at her feet. He put his hand on her shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

“What about your parents?”

“I’m sure they won’t care.” Ward stood up and grabbed Skye’s hand, “Let’s go find out.”

Skye’s feet wouldn’t move as Ward started towards the stairs. Ward still had ahold of Skye’s hand and gently tugged on it. She looked at him, still with the fear in her eyes he had seen before. “Hey, hey, hey. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. They’re not going to care.”

“How can you know? This isn’t exactly something that has happened before, you can’t know how they’ll take it!”

“Shhh. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”

Suddenly, Skye’s sarcasm was back in action. An eyebrow rose as she looked up at Ward with tear-filled eyes, “You have something to tell me Ward?”

Ward just rolled his eyes and pulled on her hand before she could put her defenses back up. He dragged her up the stairs to the living room. Mrs. Ward was sitting on the couch with the television remote in her hand when they stumbled in. The first thing she noticed was Skye’s disheveled appearance, “Skye, what’s the matter dear?”

Ward finally let go of Skye’s hand and she fought the urge to sprint back down the stairs. She took a deep breath and tried to stand up straight. “Go on Skye, you’ll see.”

Skye looked up at Ward to see that he had a smile on his face. It wasn’t his usual smirk like when he was trying to prank her or something. The smile on his face was comforting, and it was something Skye didn’t get much of through the system. That smile gave her the courage to look back at Mrs. Ward and start to speak. “Um, Mrs. Ward, I—I, um.”

Mrs. Ward’s smile never left her face, but her eyebrows knitted just slightly in a concerned manner. “Skye, come sit down. What is it?”

Skye moved to the opposite side of the couch as Mrs. Ward and sat on the arm, “I kind of have a crush on someone at school.”

The pause after this statement left Mrs. Ward more confused than before. “Okay. So who’s the lucky fellow?”

Skye tensed up before speaking, “That’s the thing. Um, the person I have a crush on is, um, their name is Kitty.”

Mrs. Ward blinked a couple times before the meaning set in and her eyebrows rose. “Oh, I see.”

The room was filled with the silence of the moment as Skye sat frozen on the arm of the couch. Ward had crossed his arms during the conversation and his shoulders had since tensed. The few moments of silence felt like days to Skye. Finally, Mrs. Ward spoke again, “You’re talking about Kitty Pryde, right?”

Skye just nodded and let her hair fall across her face. There was another split second of silence. “Well, she’s smart and quite cute. A good choice.”

Skye’s jaw dropped as Ward doubled over in laughter. “That is almost exactly what I said!” Ward was able to choke out between laughs, “And you were worried.”

Skye smiled as Ward pushed her off the arm and onto the couch. Mrs. Ward patted her head affectionately and laughed with her son. Skye was just happy that everyone was okay with her revelation. The three of them sat on the couch and watched TV together for a while after that. Mr. Ward was told that night, he was very passé about the whole thing, almost completely shrugging it off.

Ward was smiling at this memory, and others like it, throughout the school day when he wasn’t worrying about what was bothering Skye. During lunch he fielded the question as to why Skye wasn’t there from Simmons by simply saying she wasn’t feeling well today and couldn’t make it. Ward made a mental note to tell Skye that Simmons had asked about her, and the look on Simmons’ face when she was told Skye was sick. He thought that was sure to cheer her up. The day was mostly a blur for Ward; he just kept getting distracted thinking about Skye. All he could remember clearly was that his side hurt from getting hit during practice. Skye jokingly called herself his good luck charm, and he was starting to believe it. Whenever she wasn’t at practice, even though she was usually hidden away not paying any attention, he always got beat up.

He made it home without too many bruises, and immediately headed for the basement stairs. “Grant!”

Ward stopped in his tracks and turned toward the kitchen. He headed in the direction of his mother’s voice and found her sitting at the kitchen table. “Yeah mom?”

“I know you’re headed down to see her, but why don’t you grab a shower first. And maybe warn her before you head down the stairs.”

Ward tilted his head at his mom, “Why?”

“Well for one it’s polite.” Mrs. Ward said accusingly, “Two, I think she’d appreciate if you didn’t smell like that. And three, I think I gave her a heart attack earlier when I went down there.”

Ward stifled a smile that threatened to reach his lips. He headed upstairs instead, throwing his bags on his bed and jumping into the bathroom for a quick shower. In a short number of minutes he was cleaned up and headed back downstairs. When he got to the basement stairs, he heard his mom moving around in the living room and remembered her warning. 

Ward went about halfway down the stairs and then made sure his steps would make noise. He thought that was warning enough, but upon reaching the bottom he called out “Skye?”

Skye raised her hand from the couch and waved at him. Ward let a small smile across his face. He walked around the couch to see Skye curled up under a blanket on one side. She was staring off into nothingness, her eyes still showing signs of crying, and didn’t acknowledge that Ward had come any closer. Ward sat down next to her feet and put his hand on her leg, “How you doing, shorty?”

Skye grunted and continued to stare at the wall. Ward squeezed her leg and chuckled slightly. Skye finally focused her eyes and looked up at him, surprised by the laugh. He looked down at her and said, “I was just thinking about how I used to get you to tell me what was bothering you when you were sick. You’re a little too old for that now.”

A smile barely showed at the corners of Skye’s mouth. She shook her head at him and had a playful gleam in her eyes. Ward was glad to see it, so he gave into her game. “Alright. The last time I did this, you were like six, so I’m probably a little rusty, but here it goes.” He cleared his throat and patted her leg and used a jokingly professional voice, “So Miss Patient, what seems to be bothering you today?”

Skye frowned and pointed to her head. “Your head? Like a headache?” Skye shook her head and pointed at her head again, then made a motion that made her fingers look like they were running down to her chest. She stopped just to the left of the center of her chest and looked up at Ward. His eyes were squinted, a look of consideration on his face.

“You never were good at charades.” Skye finally spoke, her voice hoarse.

“Yeah, it’s not my game.” Ward said with a laugh, “So what is bothering you Skye?”

“My mind is running on me and it sucks.” Skye said, “And—I have this feeling in my chest like it’s heavy. Not like painful or in need of medical attention, but just heavy.”

“Well then. I think Doctor Ward has a diagnosis.” Ward said, putting his professional voice back on.

Skye laughed and rolled her eyes, “I don’t think that man has ever been to medical school.” quoting Toy Story, “But lay it on me.”

“Skye, I’m sorry, but you have a condition called lovesickness. Symptoms include wandering mind and the feeling of a broken heart. So, how did you get this condition?”

“You are such a dork, Grant.” Skye said as she looked down.

“Hey Skye, just tell me what happened.”

“Yesterday I went to that stupid gym class and Simmons is in there. And I didn’t know what to say, so I just avoided her. But before we left, we ended up talking and she walked away and didn’t even look back. It sounds stupid but I just wanted to see her to just look back, let me see that she had some interest. God, I’m so stupid.” Skye had started to tear up when she began talking and by the end she had broken down completely.

Ward pulled her into his chest. He didn’t know if he should respond yet, or just let her get it out of her system. He decided to wait for her to calm down some before he tried to talk to her. So they just sat holding each other for a few minutes. Skye’s breathing eventually evened out and Ward could let himself pull her out from his body. He looked at her with concern weighing heavily on his face, “You’re not stupid, Skye. What you’re going through happens to everybody. It’s completely normal. Just breathe.”

“I can’t ‘just breathe’ Ward.” Skye said as she looked up at him, “I’m dragging myself through this over a girl I just met that would never be into me! I can’t deal with this! And when I go back to school she’s going to be there and it’s all going to come back.”

“Well then, I hate to say it but you have to make a choice.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can either try and forget your feelings, or you can embrace them and try to ease your way into a relationship with her. She’s going to be a hard catch if you try, but you have to decide whether she’s worth it. Though I will say that she seemed concerned that you weren’t at school today.”

The pair sat in silence after that. Ward turned on the TV and they flipped channels for a few hours, switching between crime dramas and ghost hunting shows. Ward left the basement to go to bed nearing midnight, but not before giving Skye a kiss on the head and wishing her good night. 

Once he left, Skye let her thoughts of Simmons take control again. Ward was right, even though she hated to admit that in any situation, she had a choice to make. The thought of Simmons’ smile made thinking this through very challenging for Skye, however. She made her choice. She couldn’t get the girl out of her head, so she was going to find a way to get the girl. There was no way she would be able to let this go. Her mission was to grab Simmons’ heart like the girl had grabbed hers, and the mission began immediately.

Okay, so maybe not immediately. Thursday started out with Skye actually waking up before Ward made her. He came down the stairs to see her already dressed for school. Skye was ready to make a good impression this day, so she was making sure to look as cute as possible. The set up complete, it was time for school.

At Skye’s locker before class, Ward stood grinning at her. She had brought a mirror with her in her backpack that day, something she never does, and was checking her reflection seemingly every two seconds. Ward couldn’t help but laugh at her actions so far today, earning him quite the death glare. They turned to leave the locker and head off to class, and at this moment Skye lost all confidence in her plan and all her ability to follow through with it.

As the pair turned away from the locker, Skye spotted Simmons walking in their direction. Skye let out a tiny squeak and ducked behind Ward. He was confused by her actions until he looked up at the sound of a British voice. “Hello Ward.” Simmons approached them with a smile, “And Skye! It is good to see that you are feeling better.”

Skye could only nod as she looked down at the phone she had retrieved from her pocket as an escape. Ward smiled back at Simmons, “I don’t think she’s recovered completely yet, but I’m glad to see her up and moving again too.”

Simmons gave Skye a once over, “Oh Skye! You look fantastic today!” As her words passed her lips she gained a pink tint on her cheeks. “I mean, not like you look bad other days it’s just that—you look extra, um, extra lovely today.”

Skye felt the blush rise faster and hotter than any she had ever experienced. She muttered a thanks in Simmons’ direction as she rushed past her. Partially to get to class, as she had promised Ward she’d go to them, but mostly to escape from the situation that had been created.

She heard Simmons’ voice as she ran off, “Oh, bother.”

Skye sat in the back of her Algebra class but may as well have been in her own world. She couldn’t think about anything other than what an idiot she’s being. She couldn’t go through with this plan, Simmons would just never be interested in her and it was time to get that into her head. She was torn from her self-deprecation by the vibration of the phone in her pocket. She took the phone and looked down at the screen; a text message?

Ward: What the Hell Skye?

Skye was thoroughly confused by the message. What did she do to bother Ward that much?

Skye: What?!

Ward: You get all dressed up for Simmons then she shows up and even compliments you and you just run off????

Oh. That’s what this is about. When Skye saw Simmons that morning her heart jumped into her throat and her stomach dropped. Her nerves got to her and she hated herself for it.

Skye: I got nervous!

Skye wanted to add what she was thinking, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She could almost see Ward rolling his eyes at her last message. I can’t actually do this. The thought ran over and over in her head as she went through her classes that day. When lunch came around, Skye just put her headphones in and put her music on loud enough to block out the world. 

Though her computer class was a bit of a problem. Ward walked her to the class but, seeing the mood she was in, stayed silent for the walk. When they reached the door, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in. He kissed the crown of her head before he let go and walked away. Once she got to her seat in the room, the real problem came to light. Simmons sat right next to her. “Hello, Skye.”

Skye nodded absentmindedly while she looked at the screen as it booted up. She did her best to ignore Simmons, though that proved challenging. Simmons began flexing her fingers and spoke, “So, um, Ward is quite nice.”

“Um, yeah?” Skye was utterly baffled by the way this conversation had started.

“How long have you known each other?”

“Years. Pretty much as long as I can remember.”

“That’s nice. You two are very close then?”

“Yeah. He’s my best friend.” Skye didn’t trust herself to look up at Simmons.

Simmons hummed in response and pursed her lips at her screen. If Skye had looked up, she would have seen the faint blush on Simmons cheeks, “He is quite attractive.”

Skye almost choked on her own breath. She just made a noise from her throat that she thought sounded affirmative. The conversation ended there and the pair was silent throughout Mr. Stark’s lesson.

The rest of the day was nothing but the droning of teachers and the music on her phone. Even the ride back to Ward’s house was silent. Skye avoided everyone she could for the rest of the night. She skipped dinner and just sat on her laptop the entire time.

Not very long after the Ward family has their dinner together, Skye felt a presence over her shoulder. She can also smell the hamburger from the plate that is surely behind her. The plate was set down on the end table and Grant Ward sat down on the couch next to her. He reached over and played with the track pad on Skye’s laptop. She smacked his hand away and glared at him, but not before he changed the screen to see what music she was playing. “A Mayday Parade kind of day, is it?”

Skye barely heard him over the music, but took out one of the earphones she had in and looked at him. She tried to keep her voice from cracking, “What do you want, Ward?”

“Well, I figured you would need food at some point, and I wanted to see what got into you today.” Ward replied as he placed his arm around her shoulders.

Skye shrugged his arm off of her. She bit the inside of her mouth and put her earphones back in. Ward immediately pulled her earphones back out. “You sonuva—” Skye screamed in pain as she reached for her ears.

The two of them looked at each other, both with glares on their face; Skye’s more hostile than Ward’s, his was more questioning. A staring contest broke out. Each of them was daring the other to break. Almost every time one of these fights happened Ward came out on top. This time was no different. Skye broke eye contact and looked back down at the computer screen, “I can’t do it.”

Ward put his arm back on her shoulders, immediately knowing what she was talking about, “Why not?”

“I saw her this morning and I realized something, I have no chance with this girl. Though you might.”

“What do you mean?” Ward removed his arm from Skye.

“She apparently thinks you are ‘quite attractive’.” Skye said while putting her head in her hands.

“Well I can’t blame her. I am ruggedly handsome, aren’t I?” Ward sat back and then realized that his teasing was not going over well, even if he quoted one of her favorite shows. “Look Skye, I told you before, I’m not moving on her. She’s yours. I’ve seen the look on her face when she sees you, and how she acted when you missed school; you have a chance here. You just have to take it.”

Skye grabbed the plate that Ward had set down. Ward stood up and patted her leg. He walked to the stairs, but before he got there Skye spoke up, “Grant. Thanks.”

Ward gave her a smile, “Just take your shot. You’ve got an opportunity tomorrow.”

Skye started eating, considering Ward’s words. What did he mean by a chance tomorrow? She was mid-bite into the hamburger when it hit her. The football game! The urge to smile was matched by the urge to be sick. Her nerves were kicking up as the sun was going down. Skye had to make her mind up right now, because if she tried to go with the flow as she usually did she wouldn’t be able to go through with it. 

As she was thinking this, Mrs. Ward came down to the basement. “Hey, Skye. Are you done with your food down here?”

Skye smiled at her as she handed Mrs. Ward the plate, “Yeah, thanks.”

“I see you’re feeling better.” Mrs. Ward gave a beaming smile back.

“Yeah. I’m scheming now.” Skye said with a laugh.

Ward made his way down the stairs, “We all know how much you like to scheme.”

Mrs. Ward smiled at her son then turned away, “Well, I’ll leave you to it.”

As his mother walked up the stairs, Ward looked over his shoulder then jumped over the couch to sit next to Skye. He leaned against the arm of the couch and stared at Skye with a smirk on his lips. She raised an eyebrow at him, “What?”

Ward just let the smile stretch across his face, “Just watching you scheme about how you’re going to ask Simmons out tomorrow.”

“I’m not going to ask tomorrow, Ward.” Skye said as she looked across the couch at him.

He tilted his head as he looked at her, “Well, why not?”

“Because I need to get a little more information before I do that. I can’t just jump into this, I’d like to get to know her a little better first.”

“Wow Skye, you aren’t trying to sleep with her, dates are for getting to know each other better.” Ward got an evil grin, “Unless you are trying to sleep with her.”

Skye resisted the urge to punch him and just shook her head. Ward had a stupid smile on his face as he was quietly humming Marvin Gaye and was waiting for her to respond. She just laughed, “I want to do this right.”

“Alright.” Ward stood up, “Get some sleep, sounds like you have a big day tomorrow.”

“So do you. Big game tomorrow.”

“Night, Skye!” Ward yelled down from the top of the stairs.

Skye curled up on the couch a few minutes later with a smile on her face. She was excited for the next day, but could feel the butterflies in her stomach already. It was just a matter of hours, and then she would be trying her best to win over the beautiful Brit.

For the second day in a row, Ward didn’t have to wake Skye up for school. He made a comment about Simmons being a good influence as he threw his away jersey at her. Skye just stuck her tongue out at him and pulled the jersey over her shoulders. She did have to smile because just the mention of Simmons put an image of the girl’s smile in her head.

Ward and Skye climbed into his car later that morning and as soon as the school was in view, Skye’s leg began shaking. It didn’t go unnoticed by Ward. “Deep breath, Skye. You’ll win her over.”

“Thanks, Ward. I just really don’t want to screw this up.”

“It’ll be fine, don’t be nervous. Just be your usual goofy, confident, and sarcastic self. Remember, if you can’t blind them with your brilliance…”

“Baffle them with your bullshit.” Skye finished with a laugh.

“That last part is what you’re good at.” Ward laughed back at her as he pulled into the school’s parking lot.

They pulled into a parking spot and walked into the school. Skye wanted to hang around her locker a little longer than usual; Ward rolled his eyes as her eyes scanned the hall. She used a hair tie to make sure the jersey didn’t hang so loosely around her body and ducked her head into the locker. As she did this, she received an elbow in her ribs. She yanked her head out and spun to berate Ward only to freeze at the sight of Fitz and Simmons standing there. “Well, um, hey there.” Skye mumbled out.

“Hello Skye.” The newcomers said simultaneously.

Fitz’s seemed a little more enthusiastic than Simmons’, but Skye tried not to read into that. Ward looked back and forth between the pair, “Are you two like psychically linked or something?”

“Some people seem to think that.” Fitz replied.

“Yes. Because of that—“

“—And because we are always together—“

“—Some people just began combining our names into—“

“FitzSimmons.” The two of them finished together.

Skye and Ward just looked at them, stunned, with jaws loosely hanging. Ward was the first to recover after discovering that the duo even blushed in sync, “That’s quite the talent.”

“I’ll say. You can read each other’s minds, can you read mine?” Skye asked with a lopsided smirk and a glint in her eyes while looking into Simmons’.

Fitz responded while staring at his phone while Simmons just held a shocked face that was quickly turning red, “We can’t actually read each other’s minds, that’s scientifically implausible, if not impossible. But, it is time for class, so we should get going.”

They said their goodbyes and Skye almost skipped her way to her class with Ward beside her. Ward smiled at her, “Good job so far, you haven’t lost your head yet. And was there even some flirting in there?”

Skye shrugged her shoulders with a big smile, “Maybe there was.”

“I think Simmons may have actually read your mind back there with the way she blushed. So, what were you thinking?”

“Well, I’d tell you, but I don’t think you want that image in your head at the moment.” Skye winked at him.

Ward laughed and mussed her hair. She walked into her classroom while running her fingers through her hair and biting her lip. Skye sat in her usual seat with a smile on her face, which seemed to actually throw Mr. Sitwell off. Her smile never left, even after the announcement of a test in the class, as she anxiously awaited the time for lunch. 

When lunch finally arrived, Skye rushed to the cafeteria. She didn’t even care what it was serving; she just wanted to get to the table first. The chicken nuggets on the tray bounced around as she threw it onto the table with a loud bang. As she sat down she rushed to open her bag and pull out the mirror she was carrying that day. Skye looked up after fixing her hair and hearing a laugh. Ward and Fitz were having a conversation with Simmons following behind them. Skye and Ward made eye contact and she shifted her eyes toward the seat next to her, Ward seemed to get the message. He sat down next to Skye, Fitz appeared confused but sat across from Ward without a word; which left Simmons directly across from Skye.

The group sat and ate while carrying on a casual conversation. A few minutes into the lunch period, Skye was trying to find the least obvious and clichéd ways to flirt with Simmons. Eventually, she decided to just go with a cliché if she had to. That led to Skye slipping her foot across the ground under the table and running her foot lightly against Simmons’. The first couple times Skye did it, Simmons just shrugged it off as an accident. But after five or six occurrences Simmons looked over at Skye questioningly. Skye looked at her and winked, then went back to the conversation she and Ward were having.

Not long after that, the bell signaling that it was time for the next class rang. The group split, but Skye and Simmons continued the conversation from the lunch table on their way to their computer class. Skye made sure to walk close enough to Simmons to bump their shoulders together occasionally. Once the class started, however, Mr. Stark announced that they would actually have work to do that day. That information sent a wave of groans throughout the room, until he also announced that everyone could work with a partner. All they had to do was tell him who was partnering with whom. The usual pairs raised their hands and told Stark what he had heard time and time again. Then Skye raised her hand. “Yes, Skye. If you want to, you can work alone.”

“Actually, I thought I would partner up with Jemma.” Skye made sure to enunciate the girl’s first name; she also had to fight back a smile at how it rolled off her tongue.

There was a quiet gasp next to Skye, which almost turned into a squeak. Mr. Stark seemed just as surprised before shrugging and bringing his coffee cup to his lips, “Well, okay then. I guess that’s settled.”

Mr. Stark explained the project that they were to work on and let them start working. Skye, being the one more proficient in the class, began bringing up ideas on how they could go about the project. Simmons listened with rapt attention, leaving a look on her face of concentration. That look made it hard for Skye to concentrate however, and she found herself stumbling over some of her words as she took in the way the light reflected in Simmons’ eyes or the way she bit her lip when Skye said something that didn’t she didn’t quite understand.

The first stages of working on the project were set up, and then class came to an end. Skye walked out before Simmons could finish getting her bag together, but didn’t leave without a “See you later, Jemma.” The rest of the day flew by for Skye, much to her amazement. Gym class wasn’t the death of her today, as she ran next to Simmons and talked the entire time. The only thing that Skye didn’t feel great about that day was the effort she put into tearing her eyes off Simmons while they were changing before and after class.

As it was Friday, Ward had to rush Skye back home and then rush back to the school to get ready for the game later that night. Skye sat around the Ward’s house, mostly on her laptop or talking to Mrs. Ward, until six. That was when Mrs. Ward drove up to the football field to support her son. Mrs. Ward went and sat with some of the other football parents while Skye stood by the gate, waiting. She heard what she was waiting for before she saw it. Simmons’ laugh seemed to echo as she walked around the corner into Skye’s vision. Skye called both her and Fitz’s names as she walked toward them. “Hey guys, how’s it going?”

“Hello Skye,” Simmons answered with a smile, “we are quite well.”

“Excited to see American football?” Skye asked, putting on her version of a British accent.

The look of disgust on Fitz’s face, as well as the slightly hidden look of pain on Simmons’, said how bad Skye’s impersonation was. “Oh Lord, Skye.” Fitz exclaimed while shaking his head, “That accent was awful!”

Simmons let out a giggle, “But as bad as it was, I am excited to see. I actually have never seen American football before.”

“Well then follow me, because I am going to be your tour guide for the day.” Skye waved her hands towards the stands.

They sat down right as the game was set to start. Skye tried to answer every question the pair had. Fitz and Simmons had cringed when they first saw a tackle, proving that they had in fact never watched American football before. The game was a close one, so as it got farther along Skye became less active in answering questions and more intent on watching the game unfold. As the fourth quarter neared the end, the Shields were down four points. Skye spent a timeout explaining that to win, Ward had to lead the team all the way down the field and score a touchdown in under a minute and a half.

The tension could be felt in the air and the immense pressure of the situation was not lost on the two foreigners. As Ward marched the team down the field, FitzSimmons were actually getting into the action of cheering with the rest of the crowd. The final play of the game consisted of Ward launching a pass over the heads of the defenders and Triplett diving across the goal line to catch it. The crowd exploded with excitement. Fitz, Simmons, and Skye were jumping and screaming. Skye turned at the same time Simmons did and they hugged tightly. It wasn’t until their torsos made contact that Skye realized what was happening. She could feel the curves of Simmons’ body against hers, feel the muscles in Simmons’ back where her hands lay, and she could feel, and smell, Simmons hair brushing against her face. When the hug ended Skye felt her heart and stomach drop slightly in disappointment. “Ward was fantastic out there tonight!”

Fitz’s voice derailed Skye’s train of thought and she felt the need to respond, “Yeah. He played like a champ.”

Fitz looked around, “Well that was exciting, but if you ladies would excuse me.”

The young Scot ran off in the direction of the restrooms, leaving Skye and Simmons alone together in the crowd of cheering fans. There was a brief moment of silence before Skye decided something. I need to ask this girl out, now. Skye turned towards Simmons. “Hey Simmons?”

The shorter girl tore her gaze from the field and looked at Skye with that beaming smile, “Yes?”

Skye opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out for a second. She cleared her throat, “Would you, um—“ It was at that moment Skye’s phone vibrated. Skye cursed under her breath, “Hold on for two seconds.”

Skye yanked her phone out of her pocket; glaring at the screen hard enough that she was sure the person who had texted her could feel her anger. The glare dropped, as did her jaw, and her eyes widened when she saw the name that flashed across the screen. Skye’s heart began to beat rapidly and she felt her stomach begin to turn. She opened the text message that had appeared.

Maria Hill: I went to your foster home today. Tell Carrie to expect me when you get back from the game.


	4. ...Please Don't Crush Me

“Skye? Are you okay?”

 

Simmons’ hand was suddenly resting on Skye’s shoulder.  The contact shook Skye back into reality and she straightened the shocked look on her face. “I—I have to go.”

 

Skye shuffled past Simmons into the aisle of the stands and frantically searched for Mrs. Ward in the crowd. She finally spotted the woman and ran towards her.  Mrs. Ward could see the fear in Skye’s eyes when they neared each other.  “What’s the matter Skye?” Mrs. Ward’s voice was echoing the concern she saw on Skye’s face.

 

“Maria went to the foster house today.  She said she’d be at your house by the time we got back from the game.”  Skye explained, feeling out of breath.

 

Mrs. Ward immediately put her arm around Skye, and began walking to the exit of the stadium. Skye leaned into Mrs. Ward as she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Grant, explaining what was happening. The two ladies quickly made their way to the car and jumped in.  The ride to the Ward household was quiet, but tension filled the air.

 

There was a black sedan sitting in the Ward’s driveway when Skye and Mrs. Ward pulled in. Maria Hill stepped out of her car at the same time as the others.  She brushed her dark hair off the shoulder of her blazer and stood with a folder in her hands, waiting.  “Hello, Carrie.”

 

“Hello, Maria. I wish I could say I was happy to see you.”

 

“It’s a hazard of the job, I guess.”  Maria shrugged her shoulders, but the smile on her face was quite obviously forced.

 

Mrs. Ward led the way into the house, with Maria right behind her and Skye staying well behind them. If she thought she could get away with it, Skye would have run down into the basement and found a place to hide. As appealing as the idea was, she knew she had to hear what was coming.  “Skye, why didn’t you call me?”

 

Maria’s voice was questioning, but not accusing.  It sounded more tired than anything.  Skye looked up at her. She knew Maria didn’t like pulling kids in and out of homes, but it came with the territory. Maria had treated her better than any foster family she had ever been with, and got her out of some bad spots. It was also nice that Maria used the name Skye chose for herself, not the awful name she was given. She also let Skye stay with the Ward’s even though, technically, it was slightly illegal.  “I didn’t think I needed to.  I was the only kid there and I got out.”

 

Maria was sitting at the kitchen table, as was Mrs. Ward, with the folder on the table in front of her. She rubbed her eyes before looking at Skye again, “You know you’re supposed to call me if something goes wrong at the houses.”

 

Skye was glad she didn’t call it a home, it was far from one.  “I’m sorry.  I just wasn’t worried about it once I left.”

 

“Skye, I am half tempted to call you every day.  Just to see if you have jumped ship on another house.”  Maria’s voice had started to harden.

 

“Look, Maria, I really am sorry I didn’t call you.  I just thought that with everything going on at that house, here was the best place for me.”

 

“Skye!” That was the first time Maria had shouted at Skye in years, “They were spending the money the agency was sending them on drugs!  Syringes were all over that house!  You didn’t think we should know about that?  What if we had sent another kid there?”

 

Skye was taken aback by how loud Maria had gotten.  “I’m—sorry. I didn’t think.”

 

As soon as Skye stuttered out her sentence, Maria’s shoulders dropped.  She put her head in her hands, “Skye, I know why you didn’t call. I know you don’t want to get dropped off somewhere else, but you know the rules.”

 

“All I want is to be allowed to stay here!”  It was Skye’s turn to raise her voice, “Is that too much to ask from you people?”

 

Mrs. Ward put her hand on Skye’s arm in an attempt to calm her.  Carrie figured that she should just let the two of them work this out on their own; she was just here in case it somehow escalated.  Maria ran her fingers through her hair, “Skye, I’d love to just let you stay here—“

 

Skye cut her off with a scream, “Then just do it!”

 

“You know I can’t.” Maria wasn’t raising her voice again, but it was even and strong, “I would be fine letting you live here, but the law says I can’t.  The Ward’s live just on the other side of the county line.  We’ve had this conversation before.”

 

The room was silent. Not that Skye would have noticed any noise anyway.  All she could hear was her blood boiling and pumping.  Her jaw and fists were clenched tightly enough that they were starting to hurt. “So, what does that mean now?”

 

Mrs. Ward calmly asking the question shook Skye out of her angry state.  Maria straightened up in her chair, “That means Skye will be assigned a new foster parent by the agency.”

 

Skye’s heart dropped, “Let me guess, until then it’s back St. Agnes, right?”

 

“Actually, no.”

 

Skye whipped her head up and looked at Maria, Mrs. Ward’s face showed only a fraction of the confusion that Skye was sure hers did.  “What do you mean?”

 

“You can stay here tonight, but your new foster parent has already been chosen, so I’ll be here tomorrow afternoon to pick you up.”

 

Skye’s jaw dropped. Mrs. Ward’s hands dropped to the table and made a thumping sound.  The statement needed time to sink in.  It was during this silence that a car could be heard pulling in to the driveway and a door slamming.  Grant Ward ran through the front door and burst into the kitchen.  Maria looked up at him, “Hello, Grant.”

 

“Maria. What’s going on here?”

 

She took a moment to explain what was happening and by the time Ward was filled in, the other two had recovered from the shock.  Mrs. Ward was the first to speak, “So who is this new foster parent, may I ask?”

 

Maria grabbed the folder she had set on the table, “He’s an old friend of mine.  We’ve kept in touch over the years and he told me a couple weeks ago that he was interested in becoming a foster parent. I like you Skye, and I’ve known you for a long time, so I thought I’d let you see his file before I took you over there.”

 

Skye took the file when Maria held it up to her and walked over to take a seat at the table. Grant stood over her as she opened it up.  The first thing Skye saw was a picture of a man, who looked in his mid-forties, giving the camera a tight-lipped smile.  He looked nice enough, and he was a friend of Maria’s.  She flipped through the rest of the papers and skimmed the information. He owned the local car insurance firm, had never been married, never had kids, nothing too unusual. Then something caught Skye’s eye. “You met him in the military?”

 

Maria smiled, “I thought you might catch that.  Yeah, I did. He’s actually the one that convinced me to leave the military and go into the government sector.”

 

Skye had heard about Maria’s past.  After sixteen years in the system, a decade of which with Maria helping Skye out, they got to know each other pretty well.  Skye knew that Maria left a blossoming career in the military to help run a small government agency dealing with terrorism.  When the budget could no longer afford that organization, Maria decided she was going to help Social Services; apparently her friend wanted to deal with cars not kids.

 

Maria looked at her watch, “I should be going.  I’ll be back at, say, four tomorrow to get you.”

 

Mrs. Ward nodded and offered to walk Maria out.  Skye just closed the file and stared at the table.  She didn’t know what to make of the situation.  This guy didn’t seem bad, Maria seemed to really trust him, but she didn’t want to leave the Ward’s house; especially not as quickly as she was going to. Ward was still standing over her shoulder and she looked up at him.  He looked back down at her, “I saw his address.  He lives like two streets over.”

 

Skye knew what the message behind Ward’s words was.  If things got bad, it wasn’t that far back.  All the statement did, however, was make Skye a little angry.  Two streets.  That’s all that separated her from living where she wanted to.  She could probably throw Ward across the county line from the driveway.

 

Mrs. Ward returned to the kitchen and checked the clock, “It’s pretty late.  I think I’m going to bed.”

 

The clock noted that it was well past midnight at this point, and it wasn’t until then that Skye realized how tired she actually was.  Mrs. Ward gave both kids a hug and a kiss before heading upstairs. Grant stuck around and walked down the stairs with Skye.  “Hey Grant. I forgot to tell you: great game tonight.”

 

“Thanks, shorty.” He smiled back at her.

 

“You played well enough that even Fitz and Simmons were into it.”

 

“How’d it go with her anyway?”

 

“I was going to do it right when Maria texted me.” Skye sat on the couch and shook her head, “I was so close. But she is my partner for a computer project.”

 

Grant leaned over the back of the couch and wrapped his arms around her before he kissed her head, “It’ll happen.  But I think you better try to get some sleep.  Good night, Skye.”

 

“Good night, Grant.” Skye reached up and hugged around his neck.

 

Ward gave her another squeeze and made his way upstairs.  Skye laid down on the couch with her pillow and stared at the ceiling. She had seen this new guy’s file, and Maria liked him, but she was still nervous.  If Maria liked and trusted him enough to handpick him for Skye, then he couldn’t be that bad.  Skye tried to tell herself that, but it didn’t keep her from tossing and turning all night.

 

The smell of bacon woke Skye from her slumber.  She sat up slowly, and was only willing to do that because the scent was making her mouth water. Skye climbed the stairs and shuffled into the kitchen.  “Good morning Skye.”

 

The cheery voice of Mrs. Ward gave Skye only enough energy to wave and mutter a response. Skye sat down and put her head on the table.  She heard footsteps enter the kitchen.  A hand pressed down on the back of her head, “Skye?  Out of bed before noon?  On a Saturday? It’s a miracle.” Grant’s voice was muffled to Skye’s ears thanks to her hair.

 

“Bacon.” Was Skye’s only response.

 

Ward just chuckled and sat next to her.  Not a minute later, a plate was placed on the table in front of Skye. She finally raised her head and pulled the plate closer to her.  The room was filled with the sound of forks hitting the plates while trying to pick up eggs and the crunch of bacon and toast.  A conversation was started between Mrs. Ward and her son, but every time they neared a topic concerning any point in time past that day, they changed course. Skye noticed this and tried to ignore the thoughts pulling at the back of her mind.  “Hey Skye, I bet I can beat you at Skee-Ball.”

 

Skye raised an eyebrow at Ward as he took a bite of toast.  “You couldn’t beat me if I was wearing a blindfold.”

 

“That’s a bold statement.  Think you can put it to the test?”

 

“You are on.”

 

Skye stood up and ran to beat Grant to the stairs.  Challenges like this were nearly an everyday occurrence between these two.  They were about even at Skee-Ball, but Grant had her beat at pool.  When it came to any type of video game, however, it was Skye’s turn to dominate.

 

They played five games of Skee-Ball in the basement.  Skye won three.  She danced around Ward as he crossed his arms when she beat the high score on the machine in their last game.  A high score that he set. “Good game Skye. Next time you’re using the blindfold, though.”

 

They laughed at each other and Skye punched him in the arm.  She ran her hands through her hair and realized she was in desperate need of a shower.  Skye gathered up what she would need and ran up to the bathroom.  All thoughts of the future were forgotten, as far as she was thinking it was a regular Saturday at the Ward home.  Her dream world shattered when she exited the bathroom, however. After she opened the door and began her walk back to the basement, she heard Maria’s voice float through the house.

 

Skye’s heart stopped and her stomach fell.  She pulled her phone out quickly.  It was already after three!  In less than an hour she would be shipped off to somewhere she knew nothing about and didn’t want to be.  She attempted to steady her breathing as she walked into the living room to face her inevitable fate.

 

Maria was sitting in the chair on one side of the coffee table while Mrs. Ward and Grant sat on the couch.  Skye quickly sat between the mother and son.  The room was quiet for a moment longer than seemed necessary before Maria spoke. “How are you today, Skye?”

 

Skye looked across at her and raised her eyebrows.  Maria pressed her lips together tightly and nodded. “Look, Skye, I hate to do this. But it’s the law. If it was up to me, I’d let you stay here.”

 

Maria’s voice sounded like she was pleading with Skye, maybe trying to get her to understand.  “I get it.” Skye returned, “It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

 

Maria nodded again, “I am sorry.”

 

“I know.” Skye took a deep breath, she was never good at this kind of thing, “And thanks for, you know, looking out for me.”

 

Maria seemed momentarily stunned, “You’re welcome.”

 

“And it’s good to know that you trust this guy.  It makes all this a little easier.”  Skye’s hands were wringing together and she wouldn’t look up at Maria.

 

Skye felt Mrs. Ward’s hand on her back.  She looked up at Mrs. Ward, who just gave her a smile, then changed her focus to Maria. It almost looked like Maria had tears in her eyes.  The woman cleared her throat, “Well, I guess you should start packing up.  He’s expecting us around four-thirty.”

 

It was Skye’s turn to just nod.  She went to stand up and asked Mrs. Ward if she would help.  Mrs. Ward agreed, of course.  Skye looked down to avoid Grant’s feet while leaving and saw that his knuckles were white from the way he was clinching his hands together. Skye reached down and grabbed his hands. He looked up at her and tried to hide the tears that had threatened to fall, but Skye could tell he was fighting them.  She stared into his eyes and said three simple words, “Two streets over.”

 

Ward nodded. They both knew what that meant. Grant stood and Skye heard him offer Maria a drink as she made her way down the stairs.  Skye knew that her and Grant would still be spending a lot of time together, it was just going to be different now. Now, she couldn’t just run from her foster house, Maria would know.  She was sure they’d work it out, though, they always did.

 

Packing didn’t take all that long.  Skye travelled light, so to speak, anyway and with Mrs. Ward’s help they were done in no time.  Skye’s two bags, well Skye’s and one she “borrowed” from Grant, were sitting on the couch. The pair stared down at them without moving.  Mrs. Ward sighed, “Well, I guess it’s about that time.”

 

Skye didn’t move to pick up a bag; the movement she made was towards Mrs. Ward. She gripped the woman she had come to see as a mother in a tight hug.  Skye felt the hug being returned as the tears stung her eyes.  “Hey, sweetie, don’t cry.  Like Grant said, this house is just around the corner.  We’ll be right there if you need us.”

 

Skye knew those words were the truth, but something about this felt different than usual. This wasn’t the first time Maria had moved her to a new foster home from here, but this time felt heavier. Skye felt Mrs. Ward begin to release her hold and followed suit.  They looked at each other, Mrs. Ward with her seemingly ever-present smile, “Thank you for everything, Carrie.”

 

The tears were welling in Mrs. Ward’s eyes, “No need for thanks, Skye. And don’t make this sound so final, you’re moving down the road.”

 

That statement brought a soft laugh from both of them.  A small smile broke out on Skye’s face.  They each grabbed a bag and started up the stairs. They arrived in the kitchen to a laughing Grant repeating “No way!” over and over.

 

“What’s so funny about that, Grant?” Maria asked with one hand on her hip and the other holding a glass of water.

 

“I just can’t imagine it, is all.”

 

“Can’t imagine what?” Mrs. Ward questioned.

 

“Your son and I were talking about the game last night, and he was amazed by my football knowledge.  He asked how I knew so much and it’s because I grew up with two older brothers and was a cheerleader in school.”

 

Skye’s jaw dropped as Grant was caught in another fit of laughter. “You were a cheerleader?”

 

“Yes. Co-captain, in fact.” Maria said proudly as she took a drink.

 

“It is a little hard to imagine.” Skye shrugged, “I mean, if I had to imagine you in high school, I would have guessed JROTC.”

 

“I actually never planned to enlist.  I was going to go to college for business, but someone changed my mind.” As soon as Maria said that, her phone rang, “Speak of the Devil.”  She excused herself and as she was leaving the room the remaining group heard her first words into the phone, “Hey Nat.  I was just talking about you.”

 

Ward had caught his breath by the time Maria left.  He walked over and wrapped his arms around Skye.  Skye gripped the back of his shirt.  She could feel his chest slowly rising and falling, he was trying to control his breathing.  Skye was realizing that it wasn’t just her that felt like this time was different.

 

Maria walked back into the room, “Alright, looks like it’s time to go.”

 

Ward kissed Skye’s head and took a few steps back.  Mrs. Ward hugged Skye again as Maria grabbed one of Skye’s bags and headed toward the door.  Skye pulled the other bag over her shoulder as she followed Maria out.  Final goodbyes, not that Skye wanted to think about it like that, were made at the side of Maria’s car.  After that, Skye climbed into the car and waved as they pulled away. Looking in the rearview mirror, Skye could see Grant arguing with his mother.  She knew he was trying to get her to let him follow Maria. That brought a smile to Skye’s face.

 

Ward was slightly off in guessing how far the new house was from the Ward home. It was three streets, not two. During the short time it took to get there the car was silent.  As they pulled into the driveway, Skye spotted a black SUV in the open garage next to a small form with a tarp over it.  Other than the cars, there wasn’t much in the building other than a small amount of car repair tools.  The lights were on in the house but she didn’t see any shadows moving to signify that anyone in the house noticed their arrival.  Maria reached over and patted Skye’s hand, which she had placed on the center console, “I know this is tough for you, but Phil’s a good guy.  He’s a little tough to get to know, but I think you’ll like him when you do.”

 

Skye just nodded and climbed out of the car.  They each grabbed a bag and began walking to the house.  It was a modest two-story home, one that you would expect to see in a picture about following the “American Dream”, just without the white picket fence.  Maria stepped up onto the porch and up to the door, ringing the doorbell before turning and giving Skye a small smile.  Skye heard the door unlock and watched it swing open.  The man from the file was standing in front of her in a suit with that same tight-lipped smile she saw in his file.  “Hello Maria.”

 

Maria returned the smile and the greeting, “Hello Phil.  I’d like you to meet Skye.”

 

Skye looked up at the man she would be living with for the foreseeable future. His smile seemed to grow slightly and his eyes gave off a twinkle.  He stuck his hand out for her to shake.  “It’s good to meet you, Skye.”

 

Skye reached out and shook his hand, might as well try to make a decent first impression. “Hey.”

 

“Please, come in.  I wouldn’t want you two just standing out here.”

 

Maria thanked him, and Skye echoed the sentiment, as they walked through the door. They all walked past the entryway and into the living room.  Phil sat in the recliner and Maria took a spot on the couch.  Skye remained standing in the corner.  She looked around the room.  There was a TV on one side of the room and a fireplace on the next wall. Next to the fireplace was an instrument Skye barely recognized, a cello.  Apart from that and a couple small decorations, the room was very plain. Maria glanced up at her, and then back to Phil, “I’m sorry to pull you into this on such short notice.”

 

Phil shook his head, “It’s no problem.  You’ve pulled me into a lot of tough situations without any warning in the past. I’m just glad I got more than thirty seconds of warning this time.”

 

Maria shot him a look that showed her offense taken at the comment, “I gave you at least a full minute on that and you know it.”

 

Phil let out a light laugh, “Sure you did.  I just wish I was as prepared for this as I was for the truck that came after you through that gate.”

 

Maria tilted her head and the sarcasm could be heard dripping from her voice, “You were prepared for that?”

 

“I was trained to deal with stuff like that.  I’ve never taken care of a kid before.”  He then looked at Skye, “No offense.  It’s not like you’re a toddler or anything.”

 

Skye blinked a couple times, “Wait.  You’ve never had a foster kid before?”

 

Phil shook his head, “No.  I just finished the paperwork this week.  Maria called me yesterday and asked if I could be ready for you today.”

 

Skye looked over at Maria, “You didn’t tell me that.”

 

“I gave you his file, I thought you would have seen that.”

 

“You gave her my file?”

 

“Yes, Phil, I did.”

 

“Oh, so I’m the only one going into this completely blind?”

 

Skye sat down on the other side of the couch from Maria, “If it helps, all I looked at was your picture and your address.  I also saw that you were in the military.”

 

He nodded and gave her a smile that she couldn’t read, then pushed himself out of the chair, “Alright.  Why don’t I show you around?”

 

Phil led them around the house, and up the stairs to an empty bedroom. Like the rest of the house, this room was sparsely decorated.  The walls were white and there was a bed and a desk in the room.  “I didn’t think it would be right to try and decorate it. Not that I would have had time to anyway.”

 

Phil smiled at Maria after saying this.  Maria rolled her eyes, “Come on, Coulson.  What did you want me to do?  It was either this or she spent the next few days back at the orphanage.”

 

Skye’s eyes darted up at Coulson when she heard this, he was still looking at Maria with that smile that Skye couldn’t decide what it meant. He softly chuckled, “Of course I wouldn’t want that, I’m just yanking your chain.”

 

Maria laughed and shook her head.  She then looked down at her watch, “I think it’s about time I get going. Are you okay with that Skye?”

 

“What, I don’t get a vote?”

 

“Phil, be quiet.”

 

Skye laughed, “I guess I’ll be okay.”

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?”

 

“Sorry, Phil, I can’t.  I’m expected at home.”

 

Coulson nodded and smiled knowingly.  The trio then headed back downstairs.  Maria turned at the door and told Skye she would call the next day. They said their goodbyes and Coulson shut the door.  He turned to look at Skye. The silence lasted for a few seconds before Coulson spoke, “Okay.  So this is rough for you, I’m sure.”

 

 _Great way to start_ , Skye thought, “I’ve been through it a few times.”

 

Coulson nodded, “Well, this is my first time having a kid in my home, so there’s going to be a bit of an adjustment period.”  Skye just pushed her hands into her pockets and nodded.  Coulson began to walk toward the living room, “Why don’t you sit down and tell me a bit about yourself?  Unlike you, I didn’t get a file to look over.”

 

Skye breathed out a laugh and followed him into the next room.  They resumed the spots they had each sat in earlier. “What do you want to know?”

 

“First off, I guess, do you like chicken alfredo?”

 

“Um, yeah?”

 

“Good. That’s what I was planning to make for dinner.”  Coulson gave her a smile.

 

Skye smiled back at him.  Maybe Maria was right; he seemed like a fun guy.  “Alright, next question.”

 

“Okay, how old are you?”

 

“Isn’t there a rule about asking ladies their age?”

 

Coulson nodded and laughed, “I didn’t realize it started this early.”

 

“I’m sixteen” Skye responded.

 

“Do you have your license?”

 

“Nope.”

 

This game continued for a while, Coulson asking questions about her hobbies and interests. He was just going after basic information.  Skye was glad he didn’t ask any questions that had any weight to them.  Coulson checked the clock he had hanging over the fireplace, it was almost six by now.  “I’m going to say this now, for future reference.  If you want to bring friends over, when you’re ready,” he raised his hands up with this last part, “just give me more of a warning than Maria does.”

 

Skye chuckled, “Whether I want him to or not, I’m sure Grant will be here in the next couple days.”

 

“Grant? Boyfriend?”

 

Skye laughed out loud.  “No, definitely not. I’m—“ Skye stopped herself, “He’s more of a brother to me.”

 

Coulson seemed to catch her mistake but didn’t bring it up.  He stood up and began to walk away, “I’m going to start dinner. Make yourself at home, settle in, whatever.” Skye stood up and Phil snapped his fingers, “I forgot to tell you.  Your Vice Principal is going to be joining us for dinner.”

 

“What?” Skye almost shouted, then covered her mouth, “Sorry.  Why is she going to be here?”

 

“I believe she has something to say about your attendance not being necessary for a couple days.  To help you adjust to your new living arrangements.”

 

Skye stood, shocked.  Coulson walked into the kitchen and allowed her time to process.  She ran up the stairs into the room she was staying in.  The bag she had carried in was lying on her bed and she fished her phone out of it.  As she suspected, there was a text waiting from Grant.

 

 **Ward:** Report?

 

Skye rolled her eyes.  If it weren’t for her, Grant Ward wouldn’t use more than three words in a sentence. She had loosened him up over the years they had spent together.  Her reply was longer than his question.

 

 **Skye:** I’m here, I’m safe. He seems like a nice guy. Making chicken alfredo for dinner. VP will be joining us.

 

She only waited about fifteen seconds before getting a response.

 

 **Ward:** WHAT???

 

 **Skye:** I said the same thing. I guess she’s coming to tell me that I don’t have to go to school for a while.

 

 **Ward:** What about your project with your gf?

 

Skye growled at the way Ward decided to mention Simmons.  But she couldn’t stay mad, because that hadn’t even occurred to her.

 

 **Skye:** Idk. I guess we’ll see.

 

The conversation lasted until Skye heard a knock on the doorframe. She looked up from her phone to see Coulson, without his suit jacket this time and his sleeves rolled up, standing in the doorway.  “Dinner will be ready in about five minutes.”

 

Skye nodded and sent Ward a message saying she’d talk to him later. She walked to the bathroom that Coulson had shown her the location of earlier.  Looking in the mirror, Skye ran her hand through her hair before washing her hands and splashing water on her face.  The first meal was always tough, and very awkward. This time it had a bit of a twist, though.

 

Skye walked down stairs and into the dining room right as Coulson was putting plates on the table.  He looked up and smiled at her in greeting.  He offered her a seat and she sat down right as the doorbell rang.  Skye’s eyes widened enough for Coulson to notice. He patted her shoulder as he walked by her.  From where she was sitting, Skye could hear what Coulson said as he opened the door. “Hi. Sorry about the change in plans.”

 

The female response caused Skye’s leg to suddenly become restless. Whenever she heard that voice, it meant she was in trouble.  “It’s alright. She needs a steady house to come back to.  Why not yours?”

 

Coulson re-entered the dining room with the new guest.  “Hello, Skye.”

 

“Hello, Ms. May.”

 

Ms. May sat down at the table after Coulson pulled out the chair for her. She thanked him, then looked over to Skye.  “How are you settling in, Skye?”

 

“I haven’t been here long, but it seems like a nice place.”

 

“It is.” Ms. May nodded, “I talked to the principal, and we have decided that we could give you some time to adjust.  That being said, all your teachers have been informed that you will not be in class on Monday and Tuesday.”

 

“Well, thanks.  But, um…” Skye looked down, “see, there’s a team project that I’m supposed to work on, and I don’t want to leave my partner alone.”

 

Ms. May nodded, “I’ll make sure to let your partner know personally that you won’t be there.  Who do I need to tell?”

 

“Jemma Simmons.”

 

“The new girl.”  May nodded, “Do you have her number?  So you can contact her in case you want to work during your time off?”

 

“Um, no.” Skye said quietly, then after a moment of thought, “But I can get my friend to get it for me.”

 

May nodded again and then gave Coulson a small smile as he returned to the room. Skye was startled. She had never seen May smile before. The meal was filled with small talk and went by fairly quickly.  Skye was impressed by Coulson’s cooking skills, though.  When they had all finished eating, Skye gathered the plates. She felt like she should do something to help out.  After putting the plates in the sink, Skye went back to the dining room to find the other two. They had moved out of that room, and Skye assumed they moved into the living room.  The living room was empty.  Skye was confused as she continued looking around.  She got to the entryway of the house and saw Coulson and May entwined in a hug.  They pulled apart and Coulson placed a kiss on May’s cheek.  Skye almost gasped, but clasped a hand across her mouth before turning to leave them alone.  “Goodbye, Skye. I’ll see you Wednesday.”

 

May’s farewell was quiet enough that Skye knew that she had been seen. She stuck her head back around the corner with a red face and waved back at May.  “See you Wednesday.”

 

Both Coulson and May’s faces were blank as Skye retreated back upstairs. Her laptop was her first target. After breaking into Coulson’s protected Wi-Fi, she spent some time browsing the Internet. It occurred to her, that she still needed Simmons’ number.  She grabbed her phone and texted Ward.

 

 **Skye:** Could you give Simmons my number Monday? I’ll need to talk to her about our project.

 

Skye waited for almost an hour for a response.  Nothing.  She got sucked into what she now found on her screen and didn’t even notice the passage of time. Not until Coulson knocked on her door and brought her out of her daze.  He gave her one of his patented tight-lipped smiles.  “It’s getting late, so I’m going to bed.  You can stay up however long you want, just keep it down.”

 

Skye checked the time on her laptop.  It was almost eleven.  She suddenly felt the exhaustion wash over her.  It had been a grueling day.  Her eyes suddenly felt heavy, and she rubbed them.  “I think I’m going to hit the hay too.”

 

“Alright, then, I’ll see you in the morning.  Good night.”

 

“Good night.”

 

Skye put her laptop on the desk in the room and changed into her pajamas. As she pulled the covers down on the bed, her phone rang.  She picked it up, confused, and checked the caller id before she answered.  “Ward?  You do realize what time it is, right?”

 

“Yeah. I just wanted to check in.”

 

“You could have just texted.”

 

“Nah. So how’d dinner with The Cavalry go?”

 

Skye wasn’t sure how that secret got out.  Apparently during her time in the military, which scared Skye to think that her Vice Principal probably could kill her with her pinkie, May earned the nickname.  No one knew how she got it, but everyone knew that she hated it.  “You should probably keep your voice down. Even if she’s back at her house, she can probably still hear you.”

 

Ward laughed lightly, “So it went okay?”

 

“I actually talked to Ms. May and never got in trouble, so yeah.”

 

“Alright. Well, tell this guy to expect me after practice on Monday.”

 

Skye smiled, “I’ll make sure he knows.”

 

The two said their goodbyes for the second time that day.  As Skye hung up the phone, she realized she should have asked Ward if he got her text earlier.  She cursed herself and climbed into bed.  Her eyes closed as her head hit the pillow.  She tossed and turned for a few minutes before the light from her phone cut past her eyelids.  A groan escaped her lips as she silently cursed Ward.  Grabbing the phone, she noticed the text came from an unknown number. Skye opened the message, curious.

 

 **???:** Hello, Skye. This is Jemma Simmons. I apologize for messaging so late, but Ward said you were in need of my number for our project.”

 

Skye beamed. Ward was on top of his game today. She quickly saved the number and typed back a message.

 

 **Skye:** It’s cool. I’m glad Ward got ahold of you. I’ll talk to you about it all later.

 

 **Jemma:** All right. I shall talk to you soon. Good night Skye.

 

 **Skye:** Good night Jemma.

 

Skye couldn’t pull the smile off her face.  Jemma texted her!  As her eyes shut, all she could see was Jemma’s smile.  It kept the soft smile on Skye’s face as she faded into sleep. Into a dream filled with sunshine, picnics, and Jemma.


	5. Do You Got Room For One More Troubled Soul?

The sun was beating down overhead and Skye was doing her best to avoid the heat by leaning up against the trunk of a tree.  She was sitting on her blanket looking down at her phone.  Thankfully the tree’s leaves were blocking out enough of the sun that the screen was not giving off a glare.  Skye’s greatest virtue has never been patience.  Not seeing what she wanted to on her phone, she directed her attention to the lake off to the side.  _This is a freaking cliché._ Skye rolled her eyes at her own situation.  _Here I am, waiting under a tree next to a lake for—._ Her train of thought was interrupted by arms being thrown around her neck and lips pressed against hers.

 

The surprise Skye felt quickly faded away, as the kiss felt normal and natural, and soft. She closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss right as the other person began to pull away.  Skye felt the space between her and the other person grow and opened her eyes to see a beaming smile.  “Hello, Skye.  Sorry I’m late.”

 

The British accent and bright smile left Skye with a dopey grin, the kiss had a lot to do with that as well. The sun shone down across Simmons’ hair, giving it an orange tint that Skye found mesmerizingly beautiful. Simmons ran her hand through Skye’s hair as she sat next to her, “Darling?  What are you thinking about?”

 

“Hm?” Skye was lost in Simmons’ honey eyes, “Nothing.  Just looking at you.”

 

Simmons skin became tinted pink.  “Well, how about you close your eyes?”

 

Skye followed Simmons’ suggestion and felt a hand on her neck, pulling her.  Their lips met again and tentatively searched each other. Skye couldn’t help but take a deep breath in through her nose, inhaling Simmons’ scent.  There was that lilac smell from her hair again, and something else. What was that smell? Maple?  And was that butter?  Simmons smells like pancakes?

 

Skye faded back into reality. Her eyes fluttered open to see the white walls of her room in Coulson’s house.  She heard the door start to slowly swing open. Coulson was standing in the door with a plate full of, of course, pancakes.  He was once again dressed in a full suit and had a small smile on his lips. “Oh, you’re awake. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

 

Skye just shook her head and began to sit up.  Coulson sat the plate on the desk, next to Skye’s laptop.  He turned to her, “Something came up at the office and I have to go in. I just wanted to come in here and let you know.” He gestured to the meal on the desk, “And bring you breakfast.”

 

“Thanks.” Skye pulled the covers off herself and stood up.

 

She moved over to the desk and sat down to eat.  Coulson stood for a moment before speaking up again, “I was thinking maybe you could come with me to the office.  This problem should only take a little bit to fix, and then we could go out and get to know each other some more.”

 

Skye was chewing the pancakes, which she found delicious, as she considered the offer. She was used to foster parents trying to force her into spending time with the family, but Coulson sounded more like he was asking.  _What the heck,_ She thought as she put the fork down. “Sure.  Why not?”

 

Coulson’s smile grew; it was no longer unreadable to Skye, just barely readable. He seemed relieved and even somewhat happy about her response.  Skye was willing to give this guy a fair shot as a foster parent, and the fact that he seemed to cook so well gave her even more of a reason to do so. Coulson took the few steps back into the hallway, “I’ll let you eat in peace.  Whenever you’re finished getting ready come down and we’ll head out.”

 

Skye nodded as she continued eating.  As she did this she opened her laptop to see if she could find anything interesting. To start, she jumped to her Facebook page. She was surprised to find a friend request waiting for her.  Clicking on it, she was left scratching her head.  Apparently, one Leo Fitz wanted to be friends with Skye.  Skye tried to not feel disappointed that her screen didn’t read “Jemma Simmons” instead.

 

She accepted Fitz’s friend request.  Next, as she pushed the remaining amount of pancakes into her mouth, she browsed Fitz’s profile. Nothing too overly interesting, though it seemed that ninety percent of Fitz’s statuses tagged Simmons as well. Skye was beginning to think that those two were actually attached at the hip.

 

The time at the corner of her screen told Skye that she had been sitting with an empty plate for almost ten minutes.  It was time for her to actually get ready and dressed for the day.  That process took another half hour.  Skye hurriedly threw her dirty clothes onto the bed and grabbed her plate to take down to the kitchen.  When she got into the kitchen, Coulson was reading the newspaper.  He was completely entranced by whatever was in front of him. Skye figured it was some local story; that is, until he tried to cover a giggle.  Coulson was reading the comics section.  She suppressed a smile as she placed her plate in the sink and turned toward him.  He smiled at her and stood up, “Ready to go?”

 

Skye nodded, “If you want to finish what you were reading, it’s cool.  I wouldn’t want you to miss what that crazy dog Marmaduke is doing this week.”

 

Coulson folded the newspaper with a smile.  Standing from the table, he brushed his hands down his jacket to straighten it out.  “Let’s go, Skye.”

 

Skye grinned at him and followed his lead to the garage.  Coulson hit the button on his keys and the lights on the SUV flashed. He climbed into the drivers seat as Skye did the same on the other side of the car.  She settled in and threw her seatbelt over her shoulder. The car was backed out of the driveway and as they turned onto the road Coulson reached for the radio. As he clicked the power button, classical music began to flow out of the speakers.  _I should’ve guessed_. Skye thought to herself as she closed her eyes and fought the urge to roll them.  “You can turn it to whatever you want.”

 

The tone of Coulson’s voice made it seem that he had read her mind and wasn’t just being friendly. The way the corners of his mouth had twitched upwards when Skye looked at him backed that thought up. She reached for the tuner, quickly flipping between stations until she found a song she enjoyed. Her eyes closed as she began humming the tune to herself.  Humming soon became quietly singing, which became even louder until she was singing just over the volume of the speakers.

 

Skye loved the lyrics to this song, but she wasn’t thinking too much about it as she belted out the short phrases.  She was in her own world, singing about lost souls and the oxymoronic idea of being alone together. Her world came falling down as she felt the car stop and heard the engine quiet down.  The words stopped coming from her lips just after they stopped coming from the speakers.  “You have a great singing voice.”

 

Coulson smiled at her after saying this and stepped out of the SUV.  Skye felt the heat hit her neck and tried to keep it off her cheeks. She climbed out of her seat and followed Coulson into the building.

 

Coulson was greeted at the front desk while Skye just followed silently.  This earned her a questioning look from the receptionist, but no one said anything.  Skye looked around as Coulson led her towards his office.  The room had a multitude of comfortable looking seats surrounding large desks. The desks were well spaced from each other and were all made of a dark wood.  The tan carpet that covered the floor ran all the way to the white walls that were occasionally holding pictures of cars, all of them at least twenty years old.

 

After following Coulson into his office, Skye became aware that there were two people waiting for him inside.  Coulson held the door for her and she ducked her head as she entered the room. The two men in the room stood as Coulson entered.  “Hello Bruce, how are you?”

 

“I’m doing pretty well, Phil.”

 

The answer to Coulson’s question came from a voice familiar to Skye.  She looked up quickly at him.  The shaggy-haired man pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked over at Skye. A small smile graced his lips. “Well hello Skye. I didn’t expect to see you here. How are you?”

 

“Hey Mr. Banner. I’m good.”

 

“Missing my class yet?” Banner had a bigger smile than before.

 

Skye smiled back at him and laughed.  She hated chemistry, and didn’t get a great grade in there, but Mr. Banner had made the class bearable. He was an entertaining teacher. “I’m definitely not missing the periodic table.  I am kind of missing nearly blowing the class up.”

 

Banner laughed at her, “Well I don’t blame you there.  That’s why I started.  Though I have a student in my advanced class this year that I think could find a way to teach you the periodic table, and you might even enjoy it.”

 

Skye laughed out loud, “I’m not sure about that.”

 

“I don’t know. Miss Simmons has quite a way with chemistry. “

 

“Simmons?” Skye choked out.

 

“Yes, Jemma Simmons. Do you know her?”

 

“Yeah. We’re,” Skye paused for a moment, “We’re friends.”

 

“Well then, maybe she can convince you to actually focus.”  Banner laughed.

 

Skye smiled at him. It was then when Coulson decided to interrupt, “It’s good to see you Bruce, but I don’t believe I know your friend here.”

 

Coulson was gesturing to the tall blonde man standing, smiling, next to Banner.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  This is Donald Blake.  Donald this is my Agent, Coulson.”

 

Blake shot Coulson a big smile and stuck out his hand, “Hello, Son of Coul.”

 

Coulson smiled at the teasing glint in the larger man’s eyes, “Hello Mr. Blake.  What brings you here today?”

 

Coulson sat behind his desk and motioned to the chairs on the other side for the two guests to return to their seats.  Skye sat in a chair off to the side and leaned back into it.  The conversation turned to a discussion about a car Blake owned, a 1967 Shelby Mustang.  The picture that Blake showed was of a dark blue car with a bright white stripe down each side. The stripe was bent at points so that it resembled a lightning bolt.  Coulson seemed in awe, “She looks like pure muscle.”

 

Skye looked at the car’s owner.  _So does he._   She shook her head as Blake ran his hand through his long blonde hair, which caused the muscles in his arm to ripple.  “She is quite powerful.”

 

The two of them continued to talk about the car, and then about the cost of insuring it, for a while longer. Banner just watched in amusement, while Skye zoned out into her own world.  After the conversation died down and it was decided what Blake was going to do with his car, Blake and Banner shook hands with Coulson and left. Skye felt the need to break the silence between the two people left in the room, “So, Agent Coulson, is it?”

 

Coulson rolled his eyes and smiled, “Not really.  I am an insurance agent technically, but I don’t think anyone actually calls me that.”

 

“Well, I think I will. How about it AC?”

 

Coulson let out a short laugh and shook his head, “Let’s go.”

 

The pair walked back through the building and left the way they had came.  Coulson drove to the large strip mall on the other side of town. Skye had been here once before, with the Wards, but hadn’t spent much time looking around.  Her and Coulson wandered the different stores without a real purpose for a long time.  They passed the time holding conversations over the contents of whatever store caught their eyes.  It wasn’t until they passed a music store that either of them really stopped and looked at what was inside.

 

Skye froze in her tracks and looked through the window at all the instruments inside. Coulson stopped behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, “Do you play anything?”

 

Skye shook her head slowly, “Never had the chance.  You?”

 

“Not in years.”

 

“What about that big, um, cello?”

 

Coulson let a small smile reach his lips, but his eyes were empty.  “It’s not mine.”

 

Before Skye could ask what that meant, Coulson was walking into the store.  Skye followed him in.  He began perusing the stock of the store with Skye on his heels. Coulson ran his fingers over the strings of a guitar and Skye copied him.  She held her hand over the edge of the guitar’s body, listening to the ringing of the strings.  Her eyes had closed of their own accord, and when she opened them back up Coulson was smiling at her. “What?”

 

“You like it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Skye was looking at the light stained wood of the guitar, watching the light reflect off it, when it was pulled off its hook.  She looked over to Coulson holding the instrument and walking towards the cases for sale. “What are you doing?”

 

“Looking for a case for the guitar.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well you can’t just carry it around without protection.  You don’t want to break it.”

 

Skye had foster parents buy her stuff to try and get on her good side before, but this was a lot of money. “You don’t have to get it for me. It’s no big deal.”

 

“Well, if you end up not using it, then I’ll take it.”

 

Coulson shot her another small smile as he grabbed a case he had been looking at and walked toward the register.  Skye ran behind him and clenched her fists when the total came up.  That was a lot more than she felt someone she just met should spend on her.  “You didn’t have to do that.”

 

They had returned to the vehicle and were sitting in the parking lot.  “I know.  But I was serious. If you don’t play it, I will. I’ve been meaning to get back into music.”

 

“Why’d you stop?”

 

Coulson’s face hardened and Skye could see his grip on the steering wheel tighten. She immediately regretted asking the question.  “I’m sorry. Forget I asked.”

 

Coulson’s grip loosened again and he took a deep breath.  As he pulled out of the parking lot it looked like he was going to speak again, but was interrupted by his phone ringing.  He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and checked the screen. “Hello Maria.” He said as he put the phone up to his ear.

 

Skye’s head whipped over to look at him.  _What’s she calling about?_   She heard the voice on the other end of the line mumbling.  Her legs started to shake involuntarily.  The worry was building in her chest.  Coulson sounded happy when he said “Of course!”

 

Coulson hung up the phone and glanced over at Skye.  He smiled, “It looks like Maria will be joining us for dinner tomorrow night.”

 

Skye’s chest immediately lightened and she took a deep breath.  Then she remembered something.  “Grant said he wanted to stop by tomorrow after football practice.”

 

Coulson nodded, “He can join us as well, if he wants.”

 

Skye nodded and pulled out her phone to text Ward.  She paused and looked up at Coulson.  “Um, thank you; for the guitar.  I didn’t tell you that earlier.”

 

He smiled back at her. “You’re welcome.”

 

The ride back to Coulson’s was quiet from then on.  They ran through a drive-thru on the way.  When they arrived back at the house, Skye grabbed the guitar out of the backseat and took it upstairs.  She grabbed her laptop and began looking up guitar tutorials online.  If Coulson was willing to spend the money to get her that guitar, she was going to at least try to get good with it.  And that’s what she spent the next few hours doing. She felt like she had made a little progress by nine o’clock, but she also felt like her fingers were about start bleeding.  The interruption that she felt she needed as a reason to stop came in the form of her phone vibrating on the desk.  Checking the screen, Skye smiled and quickly unlocked the phone.

 

 **Jemma:** Hello Skye.  I was wondering if you could help me with a computer problem I am having. I would normally have Fitz fix it, but he has no idea what is going on.

 

Skye grinned. Simmons was coming to her for help. This she could work with. The best part was, she could read over her message to make sure she wasn’t making herself look like an idiot. It was perfect!

 

 **Skye:** Yeah.  I can take a look at it.

 

The response was almost immediate.

 

 **Jemma:** Thank you Skye!  If it’s okay with you, I’ll bring my laptop to school tomorrow for you to look at.

 

Skye’s heart, which had been beating at a hundred miles an hour, dropped.  Not being at school tomorrow, how could she help Jemma? She wouldn’t even see Jemma tomorrow! That thought hit her harder than she figured it would.

 

 **Skye:**   Actually. I’m not going to be at school tomorrow.

 

The wait for the return message felt like it took hours, but as Skye kept checking the time it was only a matter of minutes.  Skye jumped at the vibration of the phone.

 

 **Jemma:** Oh well.  I guess I could wait.

 

 **Skye:** Or you could bring it over after school.

 

 _Oh, crap!_   Skye had not thought about the message she was typing before she sent it.  It wasn’t until the message had already been sent that she realized what she had said.

 

 **Jemma:** That could work.

 

Skye actually squealed. She jumped up from the bed and did a small dance.  As she sat back down, she became embarrassed at her actions.  She took a deep breath to steady her heart.

 

 **Skye:** That sounds good.

 

 **Jemma:** All right.  Just give me your address or something and I’ll be there right after school.

 

 _Oh crap, again!_   Simmons didn’t know Skye was a foster kid.  This would have to be explained, and then it just makes it awkward for everybody. Skye quickly thought about just calling it off and shut her eyes and groaned.  As she shut her eyes she thought she saw Simmons’ face on the inside of her eyelids.  She stood up and walked down the stairs.  “Hey, AC!”

 

Skye wandered around the house, trying to find the man.  She looked through the living room, dining room, and kitchen before she heard a noise from the garage.  She opened the door connecting the kitchen to the garage.

 

Coulson had his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened as he bent over to pick up the wrench he had dropped. He looked up at her as she entered the garage.  Skye walked over to where he was and looked over to the bright red car that had an open hood. “What’s going on Skye?”

 

“I was just wondering what the address for here is.  A friend has computer issues and she wants me to take a look tomorrow after school.” Skye looked, “What are you up to?”

 

Coulson smiled, “Lola needed a tune up.”

 

“Lola?” Skye smiled back at him.

 

“1962 Chevrolet Corvette. Her name is Lola.”

 

“Okay then.” Skye laughed at him.

 

Coulson leaned back into the car, “So who’s this friend that’s coming over?”

 

“Jemma Simmons.”

 

“The one Banner mentioned this morning?”

 

“Yeah, that’s her.”

 

“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s going on between you two?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Is there like a, um, relationship there?”

 

Skye’s cheek turned the same color as Lola; thankful that Coulson’s head was under the hood. She cleared her throat and tried to level her voice, “Why would you ask that?”

 

“I saw your reaction when Banner brought her up.” Coulson stood up and put on a smile, “Plus, how you stumbled over your words when I asked if Grant was your boyfriend. I was trained to find terrorists, remember?”

 

Skye’s blush was still hanging on her face and she was sure Coulson could tell.  He smiled at her as he wiped his hands.  The hood of the car was put down and he walked back toward the house.  Skye followed and muttered, “Um, no.  There’s no ‘relationship’ there.”

 

Coulson smiled at her and nodded.  He washed his hands then patted her on the shoulder.  Skye shot him a questioning glance, “What’s that for?”

 

“Good luck with her. I’m sure it’ll work out for you.”

 

Skye tried to mutter a response but couldn’t seem to form a sentence.  Coulson just flashed a knowing smile and handed her a post-it note. He wished her a good night and walked upstairs.  She looked down at the note he had handed her.  It was the address of the house, which she promptly sent in a message to Simmons. Simmons responded with a thank you, and Skye went to bed with a smile on her face.

 

She didn’t awaken the next day until almost one; the early afternoon sun was being cut off occasionally by small clouds passing overhead.  Skye rolled over and grabbed her phone to check the time. Being satisfied with the amount of sleep she had gotten, she climbed out of bed and walked down to the kitchen. When she got there she found a note from Coulson. The note said that he should be getting off work early and expected to be home around two.  Skye figured that meant now was as good a time as any to get a shower and get dressed for the day.

 

By the time she had gotten cleaned up and dressed, she heard the garage door open.  Walking down the stairs, she found Coulson laying his briefcase on the table.  “’Sup AC?”

 

He laughed, “Are you actually going to call me that?”

 

“Pretty much. I like it.”

 

“Fine. I guess I can’t do anything to stop you.”

 

“So what’s the plan for today?”

 

“I have some paperwork I have to finish up, and then Maria is coming to dinner.  And your friend too; Grant, right?”

 

Skye nodded and smiled, “So, that leaves me with nothing.  I’m going to check out what’s on TV.”

 

Coulson added an “okay” and sat down at the table to do his work.  Skye plopped down onto the couch in the living room with the remote and clicked through the channels.  Stopping on a repeat of one of her favorite crime dramas, she whistled along with the theme and lay there to enjoy it. 

 

As the episode neared its conclusion, the doorbell rang.  Skye heard Coulson walk through the kitchen to receive the visitor. After a few seconds, Coulson called her name.  She hopped up from the couch and walked to the door.  “What’s up AC?”

 

As she said this, she turned to see Jemma Simmons standing in the doorway with her backpack tightly around her shoulders.  Skye froze momentarily. Simmons smiled and waved at her. Skye waved back and rocked on her heels. “Hello Skye.  Is it a bad time?”

 

“No.” Skye said, too quickly for her own liking, “It’s cool.”

 

Coulson grinned at Skye and looked back to Simmons, “Well, Miss Simmons, come on in. I’ll leave you two to it. If you need anything, I’ll be in my study.”

 

Simmons thanked him and walked in towards Skye.  Skye ran her hand through her hair and looked down for a moment.  “So, how about we go up to my room and I’ll take a look at your computer.”

 

The other girl smiled at Skye and nodded.  They went up the stairs and Skye led Simmons into her room.  Skye took a seat at the desk and nodded her head towards the bed for Simmons to sit down.  Simmons sat down and pulled her laptop out of her bag.  “I don’t know what’s wrong with it.  The Internet keeps shutting down on me and it’s just being generally slow.”

 

“Alright, give me a couple minutes and I’ll see what I can do.”  Skye started flipping through the computers details after admiring Simmons’ desktop background, a hand-drawn picture of what appeared to be an atom. “So why did you think I could fix this?”

 

Simmons adjusted her position on the bed, “I gave it to Fitz, but he couldn’t figure it out, so I texted Ward to ask if he knew anywhere in town that I could get it looked at, and he said you were the best with computers in town.”

 

Skye smirked. She felt the pride well in her chest at being called the best.  Though she’s sure it also had nothing to do with Ward talking her up to Simmons. Thinking of the girl sitting in her room, she quietly spoke, “Can I ask you a question?”

 

“Shoot.” Skye said as she glanced up at Simmons with a smile.

 

“Why do you call your father AC, was it?”

 

Skye’s fingers froze on the keyboard, every muscle in her body seemed to tense. Simmons seemed to notice the change and became flushed.  “I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.  You don’t have to answer.  I’m sorry.”

 

Skye flexed her fingers. “No, it’s fine. It’s just that, um, he’s not actually my dad.  I’m actually, um, a foster kid.”

 

Simmons’ eyes widened, but she blinked and tried to hide her reaction.  That tactic wasn’t helped by the small “Oh” she uttered. Skye looked up at her, “It’s not a big deal.  I get moved around some, and I spend a lot of nights at Ward’s house.”

 

Simmons just nodded, obviously feeling awkward about the whole situation.  “I’m sorry I asked.  I didn’t know.”

 

“It’s cool. How could you have?” Skye tried to shrug off the vile thoughts entering the back of her mind.  She also tried to shake off her own embarrassment at the admission. Simmons wouldn’t think less of her for this, would she?

 

“So how long have you been here?  If you don’t mind my asking.”

 

“Um, since Saturday.”

 

Simmons barely kept herself from gasping.  Skye could see the surprise on her face.  Skye quickly placed her eyes back on the computer screen and silence filled the room. It was only a matter of minutes before Skye figured out, and fixed the problem on Simmons’ computer. She gave herself a smile in the reflection on the screen, happy with her performance.  “Did you figure out what was wrong?”

 

Simmons’ voice ended Skye’s little self-celebration.  She looked up at the British girl for the first time since she revealed her secret. “Yeah.  It should be all good now.”

 

Skye handed the computer back to Simmons and the other girl grinned as she received it. “Thank you so much, Skye! I can pay you for the trouble.”

 

“No, no. You don’t have to pay me. It was no trouble. I really like computers, and I’m good with them so it’s no problem.  Plus, you are cu—“ Whoops.  That could have been bad. “A friend.  You definitely don’t have to pay.”

 

Simmons didn’t seem to catch her slip of the tongue.  _Good going Skye.  You ramble on and on, and then almost blurt out that you think she’s cute._ Skye offered a tentative smile and Simmons returned with a beaming one.  There was a brief moment of just the two of them smiling at each other, Skye’s smile growing with every passing second, until Simmons’ phone went off. Skye’s heart immediately fluttered thinking about how cute it was that Jemma had the _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ theme as her text tone.  Simmons glanced down quickly, “Shoot.  I have to go meet up with Fitz.  I forgot.  Sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. I think Coulson has to start getting things ready for dinner soon anyway.  I’ll walk you out.”

 

The pair walked down the stairs together and reached the door.  Skye opened it up and Simmons thanked her as she walked through. Simmons turned around just outside the door. “I guess I shall see you at school then?”

 

“Not until Wednesday. Ms. May said I could take a couple days off to adjust to the new place.”

 

“Oh. Well then, I will see you then.” Simmons finished with another smile.

 

“Yeah.” Skye was smiling now, “I’ll see you then, Simmons.”

 

Jemma crinkled her nose. Skye thought it looked cute, but also realized it meant something was wrong.  “What’s up?  You look like you just smelled something pretty rank.”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Simmons waved her hand out, “I had just gotten used to you calling me Jemma.”

 

 _Oh._  “Well, in that case, I will see you Wednesday, Jemma.”  Skye made sure to accentuate the girl’s name.

 

That earned her a smile. “Wednesday, it is. Good bye, Skye.”

 

Skye watched for a moment as Jemma walked away, then shut the door.  She leaned up against the door and took a deep breath.  The smile on her face refused to fade any as she heard Coulson walk down the stairs.  “Maria will be here in a little over an hour for dinner.”

 

Skye looked at the clock on the wall, it was about four.  “Okay, Grant will probably be a little behind that.  He gets out of practice at about five.”

 

Coulson nodded and walked back in the direction of the kitchen.  Skye returned to the couch and turned the TV back on. There was another episode of her show on and she got sucked in, even though she had already seen the episode twice. The callbacks to the star actor’s last show kept bringing a smile to her face.  It didn’t feel like an hour had passed by the time the episode ended, but Skye stood up and turned the TV off all the same.  She could hear Coulson moving around in the kitchen, and went to go upstairs.  As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the doorbell ring.  Turning towards the door, she called to Coulson that she would get it.  When Skye reached the door, she opened it up to see Maria standing on the other side. “Hello Skye.  How are you?”

 

“I’m pretty good, Maria. How’re you?”

 

“I’m fantastic.” Maria had a smile on her face that was bigger than any Skye had ever seen.

 

“What has you in such a good mood?”

 

“I had a very, very good weekend.”  Maria walked past Skye and put a hand on her shoulder.

 

The glint of light from Maria’s hand was unmistakable.  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!  Stop right there Maria Hill!”

 

Maria stopped and looked at Skye, she still had a slight smile but there was a look of confusion as well. Skye grabbed Maria’s hand and pulled it up in front of her face.  “What is this doing here?”

 

Maria’s huge grin broke out again as Skye admired the diamond ring on her finger.  Coulson walked up behind Maria and looked over her shoulder. Maria smiled at Skye, “I’m engaged.”

 

Skye’s jaw dropped. She looked first at Maria then to Coulson, who had a small smile on his face, and then back to Maria. “I didn’t even know you were with somebody.”

 

“We’ve been dating since just after high school, but we never had the chance to actually do anything like this until now.”

 

Coulson stepped up behind Maria and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.  “Congratulations, Maria.”

 

“So,” Skye was excited now, “When’s the wedding?  Am I invited? Who’s the lucky fella?”

 

“We don’t have a date set. Yes, you’re invited. And _her_ name is Natasha.”

 

Skye went from jumping up and down with excitement, to frozen in place.  “Natasha?”

 

“Yes, Skye, I’m engaged to my girlfriend, well now fiancée, Natasha.”

 

“Wow. I didn’t know that you were…”  Skye trailed off and then hugged Maria tightly.  Maria hugged her back and patted her head.  Coulson had a hand on both their shoulders.  When Skye pulled away she smiled up at Maria, “Congrats.  I’m happy for you.”

 

“Thank you, Skye.”

 

Coulson looked over to Maria, “So when did she ask?”

 

“Saturday. That’s why I couldn’t stay for dinner. She apparently had this planned out.”

 

Coulson just smiled and nodded at her.  A flash of understanding jumped across Maria’s face.  Her jaw dropped.  “You knew about this, didn’t you?”  Maria almost shrieked at Coulson. “Phil!  You knew she was planning this!”

 

Coulson held his hands up in mock surrender.  “I knew she was going to ask, I just didn’t know when.”

 

Maria looked as if she was going to strangle him, but hugged him instead.  Skye just stood to the side, smiling.  Then they heard the doorbell ringing.  Skye skipped to the door and opened it up. Grant was standing on the porch, waiting. He smiled when he saw Skye. “Hey there, shorty.”

 

“Grant!” Skye grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the living room, where Coulson and Maria had sat down, “Maria’s engaged!”

 

Grant’s eyes widened, “Really now?”

 

“Don’t look so surprised, Mr. Ward.” Maria shot him a warning look.

 

“Who’s taking the plunge with you?”

 

Skye answered for Maria, “Her girlfriend, Natasha.”

 

Grant’s eyebrows rose, “Well then, congratulations.”

 

Grant squeezed Skye’s hand and looked down at her.  The look in his eyes was a look of expectation.  She cocked an eyebrow at him.  Ward leaned down and whispered into her ear, “I expect to be best man when this happens to you.”

 

Skye blushed with the thought of getting married.  Well, now she knew what was going to be going through her head when she lay down to sleep tonight. She also thought she knew who would be standing across from her in that dream.  That thought, and the possibility of it being affirmed by Maria’s situation, brought a bright smile to Skye’s face. She bit her lip to keep her face from stretching too much, and joined everyone to celebrate at dinner.


	6. And If I Fall And Crash And Burn

Skye’s thoughts that night were exactly what she believed they would be.  Images of Simmons, flowers, and lots of white ran through her head. She was almost starting to get tired of this.  Almost. This was becoming a bit of an obsession, which Skye did not appreciate; but Simmons was awfully pretty in white. Skye felt fully refreshed when she woke up for the first time in as long as she could remember. She even woke up with a smile on her face, before noon. 

 

Her first order of business today was to keep practicing on the guitar that Coulson had bought for her. She was actually getting better at pressing the strings down all the way so she didn’t mute them, so that’s a start. It only took a little over an hour for her stomach to start growling angrily at her though. Setting the guitar down, and flexing her sore fingers, Skye walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Looking around the room she thought it would be better not to give herself a chance to burn down the nice house she’s staying in, so she settled for a bowl of cereal. She groaned as the sugary concoction hit her tongue.  It hadn’t occurred to her just how hungry she was.  Now that her mind was clear of hunger, she had to consider how to spend the rest of her day until Coulson got home. 

 

Nothing was coming to mind as she cleaned her bowl.  When she reached her room again she saw her laptop sitting on the desk and found her inspiration.  Grabbing the computer, she fell back onto her bed and began to work.

 

Skye was quickly sucked into her work and lost track of time.  Before she knew it, three hours had passed.  The only reason she knew that time had passed was because her phone rang and she ended up seeing the clock.  She answered the phone quickly when she saw who was on the other end. “Hey AC, how’s work?”

 

The grumbling sound that came from the phone told Skye that it wasn’t exactly going well at the office. “There was a bit of a mix up with a couple things here, so I will be here pretty late trying to catch up on the paperwork for it.”  Skye heard something about how much being a manager sucked, with an expletive or two thrown in for good measure.

 

“Whoa, definitely not a good day.  First time I’ve heard you cuss.”

 

“Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have said that.”

 

“It’s cool. So you’re going to be back pretty late? Does that mean I have time to throw a wild party before you get back?  Theoretically, that is?”  Skye joked.

 

She took the small chuckle she received as a victory.  “Not unless you want Maria to crash it.  I asked her if she could bring you something to eat later.”  Coulson paused, “If that’s okay.”

 

“Yeah, that’s good. I can’t cook to save my life, so that’s a great idea.”

 

“Good. Well, I have to get back to work, so I’ll see you when I get back.”

 

“Alright, see you then.”

 

They said their goodbyes and Skye returned to her computer.  She really wanted to get this done before tomorrow, before she went back to school. Continuing with her work, she stretched her neck to relieve some of the stress.  Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she bit her lip in concentration. Tunnel vision was starting to set in, as she could see nothing but her screen.  Skye’s vision widened suddenly when her phone vibrated against her leg. Grabbing her phone, she tried to calm her breathing from the surprise.  Looking at the screen, Skye couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

 

**Ward:** I have a present for you.

 

**Skye:** Uh oh.  What could that be?

 

Skye kept typing on her laptop as she waited for Ward’s response.  Her curiosity had been peaked, as sarcastic as she had been to him. She started tapping her toes against the bed as she laid on it.  When her phone vibrated this time, she immediately grabbed for it and unlocked it. Confusion hit her when she saw the message had a video file attached to it.

 

Ward was trying to hide his phone as much as possible; he was sitting in the cafeteria, and the camera was pointed across the table at Simmons.  Her and Fitz were arguing.  Simmons looked exasperated.  “But Fitz, come on! It’s just one night!”

 

“No, Simmons! I am not going!”

 

“Please Fitz?”

 

“Jemma, you know I hate dances; and plus, there’s a seminar that night.  Why don’t you just ask Skye to go with you?”

 

Simmons’ face got noticeably red.  She punched Fitz in the arm. “I can’t believe you’re abandoning me at my first American Homecoming.  Plus, aren’t you and Skye going together, Ward?”

 

The camera shook, “No. Why would you think that?”

 

Simmons tilted her head at Ward, “Aren’t you and Skye, um, together?”

 

Ward’s laugh erupted, and Skye tried to stifle her own so she could hear the rest of the conversation. “Oh no.  No, no, no.  We are not dating!”

 

Skye made a mental note to send a text berating him for that.  _Don’t make it sound so bad to be dating me.  Jeez._

 

Ward spoke up again, “No. We’re just friends. More like family, really.”

 

“Oh.” Simmons said as she let a smile creep onto her face, and Fitz had a beaming grin on his, “That’s interesting.”

 

Skye could see the flirty smile on Ward’s face in her head as he spoke again, “Well, I’m sure Skye would be delighted to join you for Homecoming.”

 

Skye was sure her face matched the red tint on Simmons’ as Fitz bumped the British girl’s shoulder. Ward stopped recording at that point. Skye shook the phone and whined out a “no” at the image of the cafeteria disappearing from her screen. She quickly typed a message to Grant.

 

**Skye:** Ok, would I really be that bad to date?

 

**Ward:** Oh come on Skye!  That’s what you took away from that?  SHE WANTS TO GO TO HOMECOMING WITH YOU!  And you probably would be, yes.

 

Skye smiled and breathed out a small laugh.  She shook her head, even though she knew Ward had no way of seeing her.

 

**Skye:** No.  Fitz wants her to go with me.

 

**Ward:** Really?  That’s what you’re going with?

 

**Skye:** What?  It’s the truth.

 

**Ward:** Come on.  You know that means she wants to go with you.  It’s obvious.

 

Skye tried to hold back the smile fighting it’s way onto her face, she also tried to stop herself from rolling her eyes.  Neither attempts were successful.  While she was thinking about how best to respond to Ward’s last message, the doorbell rang. Climbing out of her bed, Skye groaned as her muscles stretched for the first time in hours.  She looked out the window to see that the sun was beginning to set. The doorbell rang again and she set off down the stairs.  Reaching the bottom, she rushed towards the front door and swung it open before whoever was there could get impatient and ring again.

 

Standing on the other side of the now open door was a woman with dark red hair in a white blouse and black dress pants.  Skye’s mouth hung open for a moment, partially because she was expecting Maria to be there, partially because this woman was gorgeous.  The red-haired woman raised an eyebrow at Skye, who in turn swallowed and tried to find her voice.  “Hi. Can I help you?”

 

The woman tilted her head, “Maria Hill is supposed to be coming here, correct?”

 

“Um, yes?” Skye was beginning to worry about who this could be.

 

The newcomer smiled at her and reached out her hand, “That means you must be Skye.”

 

Skye blinked a couple times in confusion but reached out to shake her hand anyway, “Yeah. And you are?”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Natasha, I’m—“

 

“Oh! You’re Maria’s fiancée!” Skye burst into a huge smile and almost jumped in place, “Come on in.”

 

Skye stepped to the side as Natasha slid in through the door, her heels clicking with every step, and stood behind Skye as she shut the door.  “Sorry to surprise you like this, I thought Maria would already be here. She said she had to come over and asked if I would join her.”

 

“It’s no big deal. I actually wanted to meet you, anyway.”

 

“Really now? Why is that?”  Natasha had a gleam in her eye and a small smirk.

 

_Oh wow.  Maria has really good taste in women._ Skye tried to shake these thoughts from her head, quickly.  “It’s just that I’ve known Maria for, like, ten years and she never mentioned you until you two got engaged.”

 

“Well, I don’t know if I should be insulted by that.”

 

Skye felt bad for saying that the way she did, until she looked up and saw the smile on Natasha’s face. Her smile was infectious and Skye couldn’t help but reflect the expression back at the older woman. “Do you want something to drink while we wait for your fiancée?” Skye added a teasing tone to the last word.

 

Natasha rolled her eyes at Skye, “Yes, I would like a glass of water.  And I know you want to know about my relationship with Maria, so ask away.”

 

“Am I really that obvious?” Skye laughed as she led the way to the kitchen.

 

“Well, you aren’t exactly trying to hide it.”

 

“True, true.”

 

Skye grabbed a glass and filled it before handing it to Natasha and leaning over the counter. She gave Natasha time to take a drink, which left a small smear of red lipstick on the glass, before she started her questioning.  “So, how long have you two been dating?”

 

“Since high school. We met junior year when I moved here, and started dating later that year.”

 

“Where’d you move from?”

 

“Russia.”

 

“Wow.” Skye’s eyes went wide, “Really?”

 

“Yes, really.” Natasha laughed at her, “My name _is_ Natasha Romanoff.”

 

“Alright. That’s pretty Russian.” Skye laughed. “Okay, so who asked who out?”

 

“I asked her after cheer practice one day.  We went to the aquarium that weekend.”  Natasha had a small smile tugging at her lips at the memory.

 

“Wait.” Skye held her hands up, “You were a cheerleader?”

 

“Yes.” Natasha took another drink from her glass, “Co-captain, in fact.”

 

“You and Maria were girlfriends and co-captains on your high school cheer squad?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

Skye shook her head and smiled.  As far as she was concerned, it seemed like a love story for the ages, or at least Hollywood. Then, Skye got an idea. “Hey, Natasha.”

 

“Yeah Skye?”

 

“I know we don’t really know each other, but could I ask you for some personal advice?”

 

Natasha sat her glass of water down and crossed her arms, “About what?”

 

“Um, you see, I have this really big crush on someone at school and I was wondering if you could help me find a way to get their attention.”

 

Natasha’s eyes lit up and a smirk formed on her lips, “What makes you think I could help?”

 

“Well, you got Maria to go out with you and she’s pretty picky about stuff.  Not that you had a hard time getting anyone’s attention, I’m sure, because, I mean look at you, you’re gorgeous.  And I’m going to stop talking now.”  Skye could only imagine the shade of red she was turning right now.

 

Natasha laughed, “How about we go sit down and I’ll see if I can help any.”

 

A small smile forced it’s way past Skye’s blushing mask and she led Natasha into the living room. They both sat down on the couch and Natasha leaned against the arm and turned toward Skye.  Natasha smiled as she sipped at her drink, then spoke, “Alright. First of all, who’s this crush on?”

 

Skye looked down at her hands in her lap and bit her lip, “Um, it’s on the new kid in school.”

 

If Skye had looked up, she could have seen the smile spreading on Natasha’s face, “Okay. Does the new kid have a name?”

 

“Yeah. Simmons; Jemma Simmons.”

 

“Jemma? That’s a really pretty name. For what I’m sure is a very pretty girl.”

 

Skye was wondering if there was a way to train yourself to not blush, because it was happening way too often recently.  She worked up the courage to look over at Natasha, who had a big smile on her face. Skye finally responded, “Yeah. She is.”

 

The other woman’s smile turned gentle, “What are you embarrassed about?  It can’t be because you have a crush on a girl, because well.” Natasha raised her left hand to showcase the ring around her fourth finger.

 

Skye let out a little laugh, “No, it’s just that I don’t talk about stuff like this to, well, anyone really. Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine.” Natasha put a hand on Skye’s shoulder, “So how can I help with Jemma?”

 

Skye smiled again, not sure whether it was because of the other woman’s willingness to help or because of the thought of Jemma.  “I just don’t know if she likes me, or if she’s, you know, into girls. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to figure out anything.”

 

Natasha’s grin grew again, “Alright, let’s see.  I’m partial to the straightforward approach.  That’s how I asked out Maria.  I didn’t know much about her, really, including her sexuality.  I just caught her by herself one day and asked if she wanted to go on a date with me that Saturday.”

 

The memory brought a laugh to Natasha, and Skye’s reaction brought another.  Skye’s jaw dropped slightly and her eyes widened, “I can not do that.”

 

“Well, that might be a little too much for you, I’ve always been a little aggressive. How about you just ask her to hang out sometime, as friends, and you can try and read her. See if you can tell if she’s interested.”

 

“That could work. I mean, Homecoming is next week. But how could I tell if she’s interested?”

 

Natasha sat up straighter and smirked, “That I can definitely help with.”

 

The pair spent the next twenty minutes facing each other on the couch.  Natasha was trying to show Skye some of the tells people have for romantic interest.  Skye was really enjoying hanging out with Natasha, this was fun, and girl-to-girl heart-to-hearts were not common in her situation. While the red-haired woman was explaining how people’s pupils dilate, Skye was looking into her eyes; which Natasha proceeded to cross and make a face.  That caused Skye to burst out in laughter and actually fall off the couch. As she was climbing off the floor, the doorbell rang.  She excused herself from Natasha to go answer the door, still laughing.  Skye pulled open the door and found Maria standing on the other side with a pizza box in her hands.  “Maria!” Skye spoke through her laughs, “Come on in!”

 

Maria smiled and stepped through the door.  She followed Skye into the kitchen and set the pizza down, “I saw Natasha’s car in the driveway, sorry I didn’t warn you that she was coming.”

 

“It’s cool. Actually, I’ve had a good time talking with her.  She’s got some good stories.”

 

“Oh no.” Maria had a light blush on her cheeks as she put her head in her hand, “What did she tell you?”

 

“Oh, Maria, don’t worry. I didn’t say anything too embarrassing.”

 

Natasha had entered the kitchen and walked up to Maria.  She looped her arm around her fiancée’s back and reached up and kissed her. Maria leaned down and met Natasha’s lips quickly, then pulled back.  Natasha gave her a confused glance.  “Nat. We’re right in front of Skye.”

 

“Yes. We’re standing right in front of the girl who quizzed me about our relationship, then asked me for dating advice.” Natasha rolled her eyes.

 

Maria looked over at Skye, who was now red-faced, in surprise.  “Skye? Quizzing my fiancée?”

 

Skye looked up at Maria and grinned.  “I was just curious. You never told me you had a girlfriend, let alone give me any details.”

 

Maria rolled her eyes in an eerily similar way to Natasha, “Not only that, you went to Nat for dating advice?”

 

Natasha smacked Maria on the arm and crossed her arms, “What Maria, am I not a good person to ask advice on how to ask a girl out?”

 

Maria chuckled and then stopped suddenly, sparing a contemplative glance over to Skye. “I’m sorry.  Did you say ‘ask a girl out’?”

 

Skye ducked her head quickly. She looked up through her hair to see Natasha swiftly glancing between Skye and Maria.  “Wait, babe, did you not know?”

 

“Skye?”

 

Maria’s voice brought Skye’s chin up so she was looking up at the older woman.  Skye tried to put on a confident smirk, without much success, and let out a shy chuckle, “Yeah, we play for the same team.”

 

Maria walked over to Skye and pulled her into a hug, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

 

“It just never came up, I guess.”

 

“Well, now that I know this little bit of information, I say we sit down, eat this pizza, and see if you need help getting the girl.”

 

The next hour and a half was spent over the pizza box discussing the British girl that had taken over Skye’s mind.  About fifteen minutes into this, Natasha decided that she just had to see what Jemma looked like. Skye quickly ran up to her room and grabbed her laptop, then pulled up Jemma’s Facebook page. As she returned to the kitchen, she saw Natasha and Maria holding hands and talking into each other’s ears. She didn’t want to interrupt their moment, but she felt awkward just watching; especially once Natasha leaned up and kissed Maria softly.  Skye cleared her throat and stepped into the kitchen.

 

The couple slowly separated and turned their attention to the computer Skye had brought back. Natasha had a smile on her lips, while Maria tried to keep her face neutral; even then, there was a slight blush faded onto both of their cheeks.  Skye set the laptop onto the kitchen island that the three were standing around and opened it to Jemma Simmons’ Facebook page, specifically the picture of her and Fitz in their lab coats.  Natasha let out an exaggerated “aw”, which led to Maria smacking her in the arm. Maria did, however, agree to the sentiment.

 

 

Eventually, an idea was brought to light that everyone could agree on.  Since Homecoming was the next week, and Skye had shown the video Ward sent her to the other two, the plan was to have Skye ask Jemma to the dance. Then once they were there, which the older women assured Skye would happen, Skye could try and gauge the other girl’s interest with Natasha’s tricks and go from there. Both Maria and Natasha promised they would be there on Homecoming day, as well as promising to help her get ready before then. Skye knew that once she got a yes from Jemma, she would call Mrs. Ward and have her help with everything as well. She was actually beginning to get excited for this.

 

It wasn’t too long after the final plans were set that Coulson came back to the house. Mumbling angrily to himself, he didn’t even notice the presence of the three ladies until Skye offered a greeting. His eyes finally focusing, a smile came to his face.  He greeted Maria and Natasha with hugs and affectionately patted Skye on the arm.  She was glad he didn’t try to pull her into a hug as well, it was probably a little too soon for that, but she probably wouldn’t have objected had he tried.  Coulson talked to the couple for a while, congratulating Natasha for the first time, before they decided it was time they got home.  After their cars pulled away, Coulson turned and loosened his tie. “Never go into management. It’s a pain.”

 

“Sounds like a pretty rough day.  Pizza?”

 

Skye offered him the remaining slices of the pizza, which he accepted.  As he was chewing, Skye thought she could see the lines in his forehead deepen.  He swallowed what he had bitten off and looked over at her.  “Fun day off?”

 

She smiled at him, “Yeah. I got some schoolwork done, and then actually got to meet Natasha and hang out with them.”

 

“Good, good.” He finished off the slice he had been eating and yawned, “I’m going to bed, I’ve had a long day. I’d suggest you do the same, you’ve got your first day back tomorrow.”

 

“Oh yeah, I do have to go back.”

 

Coulson hummed an affirmative, “Do I need to drive you there?  I can go into work a little late.”

 

“No, I’ll get Ward to do it. It’ll be fine.”

 

Coulson nodded and turned toward the stairs.  Skye yawned, finally realizing how tired she was, and followed him.  As she reached the door to her room, they said their good nights. She walked in and closed the door behind her.

 

Skye looked around her room. _My room_ , she thought.  It was strange to her that she already felt comfortable enough to call the room her own. Her entire experience at Coulson’s home was a little strange to her.  Strange in a good way, a way that made her think this arrangement could last for a while. Smiling tiredly at the thought, she got dressed for bed and crawled under the covers.  Getting to sleep proved somewhat difficult, even though she was pretty tired.  Her heart rate was higher than it probably should have been because of her nerves for what was going to happen the next day.  It took some tossing and turning, but eventually she found a comfortable position and was able to slowly drift off.

 

The alarm on Skye’s phone yanked her out of the comfortable sleep she had finally gotten to. As far as she was concerned, it was way too early to be awake.  Dragging herself out of bed, Skye pulled a pair of jeans and a shirt from her bag, which she had still yet to put away here at Coulson’s house.  On her way to the bathroom, however, it hit her what her own plans for today were.  She turned on her heels back to her room and searched through the bag.

 

A scowl was set on Skye’s face as she neared finishing getting ready.  Her clothes were just the way she wanted, but she hated it. Her hair was styled the way she wanted, but it took way more effort than she would have liked. She stared angrily at herself in the mirror.  _Why do you do this to yourself, Skye?_ Her thoughts accented by the tugging she was doing on her skirt, trying to get it to fall comfortably around her legs. The soft curls she had put her hair into were tickling the sides of her face and neck.  As different as it was from her usual attire, she had to admit one thing: she looked damn good in it.

 

The black skirt barely reached her knees and flowed around her thighs, she hated the idea of a skirt hugging her butt.  The green, short sleeve button up shirt she was wearing wasn’t anything fancy, just more so than her usual t-shirts.  It fit her torso pretty well and she could still move, so that was a plus.  The one thing she didn’t plan on changing was her shoes; she was going to wear her Converse whether they went with the outfit or not. She had to be comfortable with at least one thing about this day.

 

After she was done arguing with herself in the mirror, she wandered back to her room. As she walked down the hall, she heard her phone ringing.  Skye rushed into the room and grabbed the phone to answer without looking at the name on the screen. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, shorty. Ready to go back to the funhouse?”

 

Skye laughed, “I would say it’s more like a nuthouse Ward, but sure.”

 

“Good, because…” Ward trailed off the end of his sentence, and followed it up by blaring his car horn.

 

Skye jumped in surprise and ran down the stairs.  She flung open the door to see Ward leaning up against his car door.  A smile broke out on her face as he looked over. Ward’s eyebrows lifted high on his forehead as he let out a wolf whistle.  Skye lifted a very specific finger in his direction as she rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Grant.”

 

“Yes, my lady.” Ward tried his Shakespearean accent and bowed in her direction, “Many apologies.  May I ask what the occasion is?”

 

“It’s a skirt, not a ball gown.  Shut up.”

 

Ward laughed, “Well considering the last time I remember you wearing a skirt was for a school dance, in the sixth grade, it might as well be.”

 

“Aren’t you a little early, anyway?”

 

“Yeah, but I figured I’d make sure you were awake.”

 

“A phone call would’ve cut it.”

 

“Nah, this is better. Plus, now I get more time to quiz you on why you’re so dressed up.”

 

Skye turned around and walked back into the house.  Ward went to follow her but was halted at the door.  He shot Skye a questioning glance as she held her out to stop him. “Come on, Skye, I’ll stop. I’m just teasing you, I’ll sit quietly on the couch while you finish getting ready.”

 

Skye shook her head and grinned, “Well, Coulson’s not home and I’m not sure he would like me bringing boys in while I’m here all by myself.”

 

She shut the door in Ward’s face and giggled to herself.  She heard what she thought was Ward’s head hit the door as he leaned up against it. Quickly, she put on her shoes and ran to grab her backpack then race back to the door.  Upon opening the door again, she found she was right. Ward almost fell over as the object that had been holding his weight was yanked out from behind him. Skye couldn’t hold back the laugh that followed.  “Smooth move there, genius.”

 

Ward chose to ignore the comment, “So, why are you all dressed up?”

 

“I thought you were going to stop asking.”

 

“I thought I was going to be let inside for a minute or two.  It’s a little warm out here.”

 

The temperature wasn’t much higher than usual for California in October, meaning it was about 80 degrees (Fahrenheit), but it was pretty humid.  Skye thought that maybe the skirt wasn’t a bad idea on a day like this. She pushed her hair out of her face and walked toward the car.  She opened the door and sat down in the passenger seat as Ward joined her on the driver’s side.  They were barely out of the driveway before Ward was asking about her choice of clothing again. “If I tell you will you shut up?” Skye groaned out, exasperated.

 

“Probably not.” Ward shrugged.

 

Skye took a deep breath. If he wasn’t driving, she would’ve smacked him as hard as she could.  Skye opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Ward.  “It’s because of Simmons, isn’t it?”

 

Skye slowly nodded, “Yes. I was planning on asking her to Homecoming, as friends, today and I wanted to make sure I at least looked decent when I did it.”

 

Ward smiled so big that Skye thought his face was going to end up looking like Jack Nicholson as the Joker. She just sighed and looked out the window to try and ignore him.  That tactic didn’t work for more than thirty seconds.  “When are you going to ask?”

 

“I was thinking during Mr. Stark’s class.  He’ll probably give the class time to work on our projects, and I finished Jemma’s and mine yesterday.”

 

“Wow. Getting work done before the due date. She is a good influence on you isn’t she?”

 

“Shut up Ward.”

 

Even as she tried to deny his statement, she smiled and hid behind her hair.  He wasn’t wrong, really.  Because of Jemma Simmons, Skye had willingly gone to school, had dressed up, had gotten her work done, and had actually cared enough to get to know somebody other than Ward.  This was different for Skye. She actually could see her life almost coming together.

 

Upon reaching the school, Skye had to try a lot harder than normal to keep her breathing and heart under control.  Ward kept telling her not to worry, a lot of good that did.  Once they got to Skye’s locker, Ward placed his hand on her back to try and calm her down.  They killed some time just standing and talking, with Skye almost constantly turning her head to try and find Jemma, but the foreign students never showed up. Skye headed to her first class a little disappointed.  If she dressed up for this, the least the British girl can do is show up and see her.

 

The day dragged on and on for Skye.  Her classes were boring and she was not used to sitting in a skirt.  It was a long wait for lunch, but she made it.  She meandered her way to the cafeteria and managed to completely ignore the world around her.  It wasn’t until she had her food and was walking towards the usual table that she was shaken from her mind.

 

She heard a laugh, a laugh that, as clichéd as it was, had actually been echoing around her head for the last couple days.  It brought a smile to Skye’s face.  She picked up her pace and reached the table quickly.  Her steps must have been making some noise, because as she drew closer Simmons looked up at her.  The smile that the other girl showed when she approached made Skye’s heart jump.

 

“Skye! It’s good to see you again.” Simmons was grinning at Skye as she sat down.

 

“It’s good to see you too, Jemma.”

 

“So what am I, chopped liver?”

 

“Missed you too, Fitz.” Skye reached over and patted Fitz’s arm, laughing.

 

Simmons poked Fitz in the side and then focused her attention on Skye again, “You look wonderful today. I hadn’t seen you in a skirt before.”

 

Skye fought the blush that was rising, “Thanks.  I don’t wear them, like, ever but I figured what the heck.”

 

Simmons beamed back at her and Skye couldn’t help but smile back.  Lunch was filled with easy jokes and conversation.  Even Fitz got in on the action.  Everyone was starting to really get comfortable with each other, and Skye couldn’t remember a better feeling.  It wasn’t until the end of the lunch period that Skye’s heart rate picked up again.

 

Simmons was talking excitedly about something from Mr. Banner’s class, but Skye wasn’t really paying attention.  She was just staring and nodding, seeing the excitement in Simmons’ eyes and the smile on her face. _She’s so cute when she talks about science-y stuff._ Simmons kept motioning with her hands and nearly jumping with the rhythm of her words.  Skye could only focus on Simmons’ face and, frankly, she didn’t care.

 

Once they sat down in Mr. Stark’s room, he told them exactly what Skye thought he would. Everyone started furiously working on their projects, most of them probably just starting the entire job. Simmons turned to Skye, “We should probably get working, and we didn’t get much done last week.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, we have time.”  Skye leaned back in her chair; trying to look relaxed and hoping that Simmons’ couldn’t hear her heartbeat, because it was pounding in Skye’s ears.

 

“What do you mean? It’s due Friday.” Skye found the panic in Simmons’ voice adorable.

 

Skye pulled a flash drive from her bag and plugged it in.  “You’ll see.”

 

Simmons looked like she was holding back a question and her leg was bouncing quickly, but she didn’t say a word.  Skye pulled up the project she had spent all of the day before doing.  Simmons actually gasped as the file opened and showed the completed work.  “Skye! You did the entire thing?”

 

“Yeah. It’s not like I had anything better to do.  All you have to do is put your name on it.”

 

“Oh, this doesn’t feel right. I didn’t do any work on it.”

 

“Well, um, why don’t you go over it and check it all.  Then you will have made sure everything is just right.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Simmons flipped through all the work Skye had done, adjust little things here and there. After just a couple minutes, she turned to Skye, “This is fantastic Skye.”

 

Skye was stunned as Simmons pulled her into a hug.  It took a moment for Skye to reciprocate, and Simmons must have thought that meant Skye didn’t want the hug.  Simmons uttered a couple apologies as she began to pull away.  Skye couldn’t let that happen though, so she quickly pulled Simmons back against her; which caused a huff of breath to be knocked from the Brits lungs.  After a couple more moments Skye let go and leaned back.  Both girls were smiling at each other.  “So, Jemma.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Homecoming is coming up soon. Got any plans?”

 

Simmons blushed and looked down as she shook her head.  “No. It seems no one wants to take the nerdy new girl to the dance.”

 

The statement was followed by a short laugh, but that didn’t take the weight off Skye’s chest. It sounded like Simmons had gone through this type of thing before.  Skye knew that tone of voice from using it herself.  When she got back to St. Agnes after yet another family sent her back.  “Well, would you like to go with me?”

 

Simmons looked up at Skye with a small smile, “Really?”

 

Skye smiled back, “Yeah. Would you like to be my date to Homecoming?”

 

Simmons blushed, and Skye was sure her face matched the tone.  “Why yes, Skye, I would really like that.”

 

Skye held back the squeal that threatened to rise from her throat.  Instead she just let her smile grow and pulled the other girl into another hug.  Simmons immediately wrapped her arms around Skye.  When they pulled apart again, they stared at each other for a moment longer than necessary. Both noticed and looked away quickly. It was just another moment before Simmons started talking about plans for Homecoming and they moved past the awkward moment. Skye felt like her day could not get any better, but she still had gym class with Simmons to go.


	7. So Much More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Salkri Kachemench on ff.net for help with the idea for part of this chapter. Also, the song featured in this part is an original song by my good friend Summer Collins. If you want to check out her music, or just listen to the song I use here (it's called "So Much More" by the way), you can do it at www.reverbnation.com/summercollins! Thanks for the continued support!

**Chapter 7: So Much More**

 

Mr. Stark had to tell Skye and Jemma to be quiet around a dozen times during that single class period. Every time, Simmons blushed and apologized; and every time, Skye thought it was the single cutest thing she had ever seen.  She was really starting to get excited about the upcoming dance, a function she avoided like the plague the year before.  The smile that Simmons had on her face while discussing the next Saturday was distracting Skye from the words being spoken.  Far too soon for Skye’s liking, the bell signaling the end of the class rang out. “Well, I guess we’ll have to continue this some other time.” Simmons stated as her hands dropped to her knees.

 

“I guess so.” Skye tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

 

Simmons stood up and pulled her bag over her shoulders, and then she stuck her hand out. Skye looked up as she grabbed her bag and saw Simmons’ hand right there.  She took the other girl’s offered hand and let the Brit help her out of her chair. Skye’s fingers lingered a little longer than she intended and she felt her heartbeat jump as she pulled away. As they headed toward the door, Mr. Stark called Skye back to his desk.  Simmons looked towards Skye with something akin to fear in her eyes. Skye just sighed, “I’ll see you in gym?”

 

Simmons nodded and walked out of the room.  Skye turned on her heels and walked back to the teacher’s desk.  Mr. Stark was munching on a donut when she reached where he was sitting. He straightened up in his chair and brushed the crumbs of the confection out of his goatee.  “I see you and Miss Simmons are getting along quite well.”

 

“Yeah?” Skye tilted her head.

 

“Whatever she sees in you,” Stark grinned up at her with a wink, “try not to turn her to the dark side. She’s a good kid, I’d hate to see you influence her too much.”

 

Skye laughed, “That’s rich coming from you.  Can I just remind you that you spent an entire class last month hacking everyone who was on Facebook in class and photo shopping your face onto theirs in every picture.”

 

Mr. Stark took a drink of his coffee and smiled back at her, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t you have a class to get to?”

 

Skye gave him a salute and turned to leave.  She wandered the halls towards her next class, still laughing at her teacher.  He was by far her favorite teacher.  There was no one that came close.  Definitely not Sitwell, sometimes Skye wondered if he even had emotions; and even Sitwell was head and shoulders above Garrett. Banner was cool, and Stark’s best friend, but he didn’t quite have the same outgoing personality that Stark did.

 

As soon as Skye’s mind left Mr. Stark, it went back to the same place it had been for over a week. Jemma Simmons. There was only one class to get through, and then Skye could talk to her again, one hour that seemed to last a lifetime. Mr. Rogers was cool, and Skye liked History, but the anticipation was killing her.  Skye thought the only way she got through that class today was because the teacher had decided to wear a sweater that day and the jokes about how it was going in the neighborhood were just too easy to pass up.

 

Immediately after the bell rang, Skye jumped from her seat and began her walk to the gymnasium. The moment she stepped out the door, however, she was stopped in her tracks.  “In a bit of a hurry, are we?”

 

An arm was draped across Skye’s shoulders with enough force to knock her off balance. “Jesus, Ward, take it easy.”

 

“I take it from your need to get to your least favorite class, that you have a date for Homecoming.”

 

Ward led the way toward the gym as he waited for an answer.  “As a matter of fact, I do.  Do you?”

 

“I do as well, thank you very much.”

 

“Oh my, Grant Ward was able to find someone in these halls who was willing to let him take them to Homecoming. How shocking.”

 

Ward slapped her arm, “Cool it.”

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Sharon.”

 

Skye raised her eyebrows at him.  “You mean, as in Mr. Rogers’ niece, Sharon?”

 

“That would be the one.”

 

“You know, you may be big man on campus, but Rogers can probably throw you as far as you can throw a football.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“Just try not to get in trouble, I’d rather not have to visit you in the hospital.”

 

Ward laughed as they approached their destination, “I’ll try to be good.”

 

“Don’t you have a class to go to?”

 

“No, Coach said he needed to talk to me and my teacher said it was fine.”

 

Skye was about to respond when Garrett’s voice boomed through the hallway, “Hey Ward, get over here.”

 

Skye and Ward separated and Skye headed toward the locker room.  As she had hoped, Simmons was already there when she arrived. Walking past the other girl to reach her locker, Skye bumped into her.  Simmons spun around to see who had hit her.  “Oh, hello Skye.  How are you?”

 

“I’m good. How about yourself?”

 

“I’m quite well. What was it that Mr. Stark wanted earlier?  I hope I didn’t help to get you in trouble.”

 

Skye laughed, “Not yet.” She laughed again at the Brit’s confusion.  “He told me to try and not convert you to the dark side.”

 

Simmons scrunched up her nose. _Wow, that’s adorable,_ Skye thought.  Simmons tilted her head at Skye, “I don’t understand.”

 

“Well, you see, in Star Wars, the dark side is—ow!”

 

Simmons had smacked Skye on the arm, “I know what the dark side is, Skye.”

 

Skye rubbed her arm, Simmons hits a bit harder than she expected.  “Fine, wow.  The point is, I have no problem getting into trouble and he didn’t want me turning the new top prospect into a bad seed.”

 

“I’d say you’re hardly a bad seed.”

 

“Thanks. That’s not something I hear a lot.”

 

The girls shared a smile and quickly finished changing.  The two continued to chat as they walked back into the gym, only to see something that made both of them groan.  Across the centerline of the basketball court was a line a brightly colored rubber balls. Most gym teachers (Ha! Teachers…) didn’t use these anymore, opting for the softer foam replacements. Garrett didn’t seem to care if these stung a little more on impact.  It was dodge ball day; preferred day of jocks, and most hated day by most others.

 

Garrett patted Ward on the shoulder and held up one finger.  He walked toward the class with that grin that Skye thought made him look slimy. “Alright.  I’m sure you can guess what we’ll be doing today.” That earned a few cheers and whistles from some of the guys in the room.  “So, I’m just going to cut the class in half, and you guys can get to it.”

 

Garrett pointed to a spot about in the middle of the group of teenagers and split the class. The teams moved to their respective sides of the gym and started to settle down.  Skye had just groaned and walked toward her team’s side of the gym, now she looked around to see who was on her side here.  Her eyes lit up when she saw that Simmons was on the baseline just a few people down the line from her.  Just as she noticed this, Garrett blew his whistle; starting the game. Most people charged towards half court to try and get a ball, Skye stayed back and moved to Jemma. She found herself right behind Jemma without the other girl noticing.  “Boo!”

 

Simmons ducked her head and hid in her hands.  She turned to see Skye covering her mouth, trying to hide her laugh.  “Skye!  You startled me!”

 

“I scared you.” Skye stuck her tongue out.

 

Simmons lightly punched Skye’s arm and shook her head.  They were suddenly made aware of the High School warfare being waged around them as a ball made contact with a student a few feet away.  Their attention now brought back into the real world, Skye tensed up and looked around.  A ball came flying in her direction and she ducked.  At the same time, she heard a squeak from behind her and felt Simmons’ hands on her shoulders.  Glancing back, Skye saw that Simmons had used her as cover.  “Thanks Jemma.  Glad to see I mean so much to you.  Just going to use me as a meat shield.”

 

Jemma let go and bowed her head, mumbling an apology.  “I’m sorry, Skye.”

 

Skye pushed her, “I’m just messing with you, chill out.”

 

Simmons smiled at her and looked as if she was about to speak.  She was quickly interrupted by a rubber ball smashing into her gut and causing her to double over.  The air was knocked from her lungs causing a grunt.  Skye stepped over and placed her hand on Simmons’ back.  “Jem!  Are you alright?”

 

Simmons straightened up and took a deep breath, “Yes.  I’m fine.”

 

They smiled at each other before Skye spoke again, “I should’ve known you’d be out before me.”

 

Simmons raised an eyebrow, “And why is that?”

 

“Because I’ve got skills, Jems.  Don’t doubt me.”

 

“Well, why don’t you show me some of those skills, hm?”

 

Simmons began to walk over to the side and Skye couldn’t help but watch her go.  A smile spread across her face and she turned towards the game. If Jemma wanted to see her skills, she’d just have to show her.  The only problem being that she kind of sucked at sports.

 

Skye dodged and ducked out of the way of a few throws.  She made a couple good tosses, but none of them made contact with anybody. Grabbing another rubber ball, she looked around for a target.  Overall, she was proud of her performance this far.  Her eyes scanned the crowd of students standing across the court from her. As close attention as she was paying, she missed out on a very important detail: the bright green ball headed in her direction.  The ball bounced off her arm and she shouted, in surprise more than pain.

 

Skye dropped the ball she was holding and walked toward the side.  She looked up and saw Simmons looking back at her.  The British girl had a smug grin on her face and tilted her head questioningly.  Skye just shrugged her shoulders and laughed.  She heard a shout and turned to see what was happening.  It turns out that whoever had been shouting, had been shouting at her.

 

As soon as Skye’s head turned, her vision was filled with the sight of a red rubber ball. The ball hit her right in the center of her forehead.  She thought she heard a voice scream, which was probably her own, as she lost all balance and began to tumble to the floor.  The only other thing she heard were two voices shouting her name.  Then, her world went black.

 

The next hour or so went by as a blur for Skye.  She remembers the blurred image of the gymnasium flying by and she felt as if she was flying. Then the hard floor beneath her as she landed, and she remembers a brief glimpse of Jemma’s face. The next memory she can pull from her scattered mind is a view of the sky.  After that, she sees Coulson sitting next to her.

 

Skye eventually got her head back together, and when she did she was laying in her bed at Coulson’s house. She tried to sit up, but got dizzy and fell back into the pillow.  Before she could even groan, Coulson was next to her with a hand on her arm. “Hey, take it easy.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Grant said you took a fall in gym class and ended up with a concussion.  You got sent home, so he brought you back here.”

 

Skye groaned again. Her head was pounding and her stomach was turning.  The light in the room was off, but the window still let too much light in for her liking. She threw her arm over her eyes and took a deep breath.  Skye was trying to shake her nauseous feeling when she heard a familiar voice, “Hey Coulson, here’s the water.”

 

Ward walked into the room carrying a bowl, which he sat down on the bedside table.  He pulled a hand towel from the bowl and wrung it out before setting the towel on Skye’s forehead.  Skye took a quick breath in as the cold towel hit her head.  “Thanks, Grant.”

 

“No problem, shorty. How about you just be a little more careful from now on?”

 

Skye laughed, but then cringed as pain jumped across her head.  “I’ll try.”

 

Coulson stood up, “Here Grant, take a seat.  I’m going to go downstairs and see if I can find something light on the stomach for Skye here.”

 

Ward sat down and Coulson left the room.  The younger man looked at Skye with concern in his eyes.  Skye looked at him out of the corner of her eye, “How bad do I look?”

 

“No worse than usual.”

 

“Thanks.” Skye replied with a small smile, “So, what actually happened?  I don’t really remember.”

 

“You got hit in the face by a dodge ball and fell and smacked your head on the floor.”

 

“Well, that explains the headache.”

 

“I carried you out into the hallway, and Simmons gave you a once over.”

 

The smile on Ward’s face rose Skye’s suspicions.  She slowly sat up and piled her pillows up to lean back on.  “What’s the look on your face for?”  Skye asked with a hint of reservation in her voice.

 

Ward pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped a few times.  He held the device up for Skye to take, “Just watch.”

 

A video started on the screen. The view was of the hallway between the locker room and gymnasium.  Skye was leaned up against the wall and Simmons was squatting in front of her. “Skye, look at me.” The girl’s voice sounded like it was cracking.

 

Skye looked up at her and smiled, “Hey there Jemma.  Jems. Simmons.”

 

“Yes Skye. That’s me. Now I need you to follow my finger, okay?”

 

Skye nodded, a goofy smile on her face.  Simmons started moving her hand in front of Skye’s face, but Skye was focused on her face.  “Are we playing Doctor, Jemma?”  Skye tried to wink, but winced.

 

Ward chuckled and Simmons shot him a glare.  “Skye, I need you to focus.”

 

“I am focused. I’m focused on pretty Doctor Simmons. Isn’t she so pretty, Grant?”

 

“Yes, she’s very pretty, Skye.”  Ward said through his stifled laughs.

 

“Do not encourage her, Ward. Though I don’t think a concussion test is completely necessary, it’s pretty obvious she has one.”

 

Skye tried to wiggle her eyebrows at Simmons, “You want to try some more hands-on tests?”

 

Simmons blushed and opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words.  Ward laughed out loud, “What other tests does the pretty Doctor Simmons want to run?”

 

“Ward, I am sure Skye does not need your help with that particular topic!”

 

“Hey, Jemma.” Skye’s voice was soft, and not nearly as jovial as before.  She sounded tired.

 

“I’m right here Skye, what’s the matter?”

 

“Nothing. My head hurts, but that’s not what I want to say.”

 

“Then what is it?”

 

“I wanna tell you you’re really pretty.  Beautiful Jemma Simmons…”

 

Skye trailed off and leaned over away from the camera.  The sound of retching reached the microphone.  Simmons gasped and looked away.  Ward dropped his arms to the sides, and tried to end the video, while shouting expletives and rushing towards Skye.

 

The screen went black and Skye looked at her reflection.  Even in the dulled colors of the image, she could see the blush burning on her face. “Well, that was embarrassing from beginning to end.”

 

Ward just sat next to her, grinning.  She threw his phone back at him and shook her head, with only minor pain.  At the same time, Coulson stepped back into the room holding a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.  “How are you feeling Skye?”

 

“Better, actually.”

 

“That’s good. I thought this would be easy on your stomach, and I figured you might be hungry.”

 

“I am.”

 

Skye took the plate and sat it on her lap.  Ward stood up and pushed his phone back into his pocket, “I should get home.  I’ll let mom know how you’re doing.”

 

“Thanks Grant.”

 

Coulson patted Ward on the shoulder as he walked toward the door, “Thank you, Grant.”

 

Skye started lightly picking at the food in front of her.  Coulson disappeared from the room for a minute, to return with a glass of water. There was a silence in the room while Coulson sat and watched Skye.  “Your stomach feeling alright?”

 

“Yeah. I think I’m good.”

 

“Alright. I’m going to go mow the lawn, if you need me.”

 

Skye nodded as she kept eating.  Coulson left the room and a few minutes later Skye heard the engine of the mower start up. She finished the food and set the plate to the side.  She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked around the room.  The pounding in her head had nearly disappeared, but she figured staring at her computer screen wouldn’t be the best idea. She saw the guitar Coulson had bought her sitting in the corner and stood up to get it.  Her balance was a little off as she stood, but she made it to the guitar and back to the bed.

 

Skye sat the guitar on her lap and strummed her fingers across the strings.  She closed her eyes and tried to remember the chords to the song she had been learning.  Her fingers moved into the position necessary.  Grabbing a guitar pick, she strummed, humming along to the words she knew should be there.  After she ran through the progression a couple times, Skye wanted to try playing the entire song. The first notes rang out and she started to sing.

 

“What’s wrong with you?

What’s wrong with me?

You say hello,

But you always leave.

I get this feeling when you’re

Next to me.

I wish you’d tell me, tell me

What you need.

You say you want someone to hold you

But you run away from me, oh.

Why can’t you see that this is everything that we could ever hope for?

I keep on waiting

Hoping, praying

Just needing you to say so.

We could be so much more.

We could be so much more.

When you fall asleep at night,

Tell me who do you dream of?

I got this feeling when I saw you

That this could be true love.

I keep on waiting

Hoping, praying—“

 

Skye strummed the strings again and heard the telltale _thunk_ of muted strings.  She cursed herself under her breath.  Behind Skye, someone started clapping, causing her to let out a small scream.  Turning towards the door, Skye saw Simmons standing there with pink cheeks and her hand over her mouth.  “I’m sorry, Skye.  I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

Skye began to catch her breath, “It’s fine.  What are you doing here?”

 

“I wanted to see how you were doing.  Mr. Coulson saw me when I got here and told me to just come up.”

 

“How long were you there?”

 

“A minute or so. I heard you playing, you have a very pretty singing voice.”

 

“Thanks.” Skye pushed her hair back and stood up to put the guitar back.

 

As she stood, her vision blurred slightly, and her balance faltered.  Skye tipped to one side but was able to stay upright. By the time Skye could stand straight again, Simmons had rushed to her side and grabbed her arm. The girls looked at each other, Skye with wonder and Simmons with concern on her face.  “Why don’t you sit down?  I’ll put that back.”

 

Simmons lowered Skye back to a seated position and took the guitar from her.  The British girl placed the instrument where it had been previously and walked back to the bed.  Skye patted the spot next to her, and Simmons accepted the invitation. “So, how are you feeling?”

 

“I’m okay. My head still hurts a little, but other than that I’m fine.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

Skye bit her bottom lip and looked up at her friend, “Jemma.”

 

Simmons looked back at her with a small smile, “Yes Skye?”

 

Skye ducked her head, “Um, Ward showed me the video he took after I hit my head. I’m sorry about all that.”

 

“It’s fine. People who have head trauma and concussions tend to babble.”  Simmons was speaking very quickly.  “I mean they ramble on and speak nonsense, so it makes sense that you would do the same. You did hit your head pretty hard on the gym floor.”

 

The room was silent for a minute except for the sound of the lawn mower outside.  Simmons shifted on the bed.  Skye took a deep breath, “Well, it wasn’t all nonsense.”

 

Simmons looked over at her, eyebrows bent in confusion.  “What do you mean?”

 

_Come on Skye, you already started this._   She looked into the other girl’s hazel eyes and felt her heart race faster, “I do think you’re really pretty.”

 

Simmons smiled at her. “Oh come on Skye. You’re ridiculous.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Simmons shook her head then pushed her hair back behind her ear, “You don’t have to say that. I know I’m not exactly—“

 

Skye pushed Simmons, effectively cutting her off.  Simmons glared incredulously at her.  Skye laughed and pushed her again, “Shut up.  You’re pretty.”

 

Simmons blushed and smiled back at Skye, “You know, you’re very pretty as well.”

 

Skye tried to hide the heat racing up her cheeks and tried to seem confident, “Yeah, I know. Just got guys and girls lining up to get with me.”

 

Simmons rolled her eyes, “I’m sure you do, darling.”

 

Skye grinned and put on her best imitation of Simmons’ accent, “Am I your darling now?”

 

Jemma blushed brightly and gasped, “I—I—That is not what I meant.  I mean, um.  That accent was awful, you know?”

 

Skye laughed and grabbed Jemma’s arm, “I’m just messing with you.”

 

Jemma leaned toward her and smiled, “Well, you seem to be in much better shape than earlier. So I guess my job here is done.”

 

“I do have to thank Doctor Simmons for showing up, I guess.”

 

Simmons knocked her shoulder into Skye’s, “You are very welcome Skye.  I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

 

“You didn’t have to do that.” Skye spared a glance toward the other girl.

 

“That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?”  Simmons sounded as if she was actually asking Skye if she was right.

 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Skye leaned up against Simmons.

 

There was a beat of silence in the room, “Well, I guess I should get going.”

 

Simmons stood up and Skye followed her.  They walked down the stairs together; with Simmons making sure to have her hand at Skye’s elbow the entire way to steady her.  Simmons stopped at the door.  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay going back up the stairs?”

 

“Yes Jemma, I will be fine.”

 

“Alright, if you’re sure. I guess I’ll be on my way.”

 

Skye stepped in and hugged Jemma.  “Thank you for coming over.”

 

“It was no big deal, Skye.”

 

“Well, it’s a big deal to me. I don’t actually have a lot of friends. Counting you and Fitz, I have three.”

 

“Well, I am glad to be on the list.”

 

Skye stepped back from the hug and looked at her feet, “Um, so I don’t really have a lot of experience with this ‘friends’ thing.  My only friend has been Ward for years, so I never really got to—um, well, what I’m trying to say is: would you want to come over and hang out this weekend?” Skye looked up and crossed her arms; “I mean it’s okay if you don’t, that’s cool too.”

 

“Skye!” Simmons was beaming, “I’d love to.  We could have a sleepover.”

 

Skye made a little leap, “Yeah.  That would be awesome. The football team is away this week, so Friday night?”

 

“That sounds perfect.”

 

“Great.”

 

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow, then?”

 

“Yeah, definitely. I’ll see you then.”

 

Simmons waved as she walked out to her car and pulled away.  Skye stood in the doorway and watched as she pulled around the corner. Coulson walked up on the porch and wiped his brow.  “How are you feeling?”

 

“Great.” Skye smiled up at him. “Jemma and I were wanting to have a sleepover Friday night.  If that’s okay?”

 

Coulson smiled back, “Yeah, that’s no problem.  Why don’t you go back upstairs and get some rest.  You’ve had a bit of a rough day.”

 

Skye nodded and walked back up to her room.  She changed out of her school clothes, which thankfully no one had tried to take her out of earlier, and curled up under the covers.  She spent the remaining hours of the day sleeping on and off.

 

The next day and a half flew by quickly and smoothly for Skye.  Her classes went well and she stayed out of trouble.  Because of the concussion, she got to sit out during her gym class. She was happy and really excited for the weekend.  Skye had refrained from telling Ward about her weekend plans; she knew what would come after that. That’s why, when Jemma brought it up at lunch on Friday, Ward almost choked on his drink.  “So, Skye.  What time should I be over tonight?”

 

“What are you two up to tonight?”

 

“We’re having a sleepover!” Simmons announced with a huge smile.

 

The look on Ward’s face would have been comedic if Skye wasn’t trying to fight the blood back from her face. Through the coughs, Ward replied, “Really now?  Skye, why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Skye cleared her throat and tried to find her voice, “I guess it never came up.”  Skye looked everywhere but at Ward and found her escape, “What are you messing with Fitz?”

 

Fitz’s face lit up at the question and he began a long-winded explanation of some program he had started to design for his phone.  Skye kept Fitz talking by asking questions, mostly because she was actually interested but the fact that it didn’t let Ward bombard her with his own questions helped. Lunch flew by and the group split up, but not without Ward sparing a pointed glance to Skye.  Skye was amazed at just how fast her day flew by after that, and before she knew it she was on her way to Ward’s car.  “So, a sleepover huh?”

 

“Shut up, Ward.” Skye tried her best to sound annoyed, but the smile on her face kind of killed that.

 

“Skipping my game to hang out with your girlfriend.  Shows how much I mean to you.”  Ward teased.

 

“She is not my girlfriend, Ward!”

 

“That makes it even worse!” He laughed as she smacked him on the arm.  The car was silent for only a moment before Ward spoke again, “Why didn’t you tell me you two were hanging out tonight?  I could have given you my signature soundtrack.”

 

Skye laughed, “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.  I don’t want to know what’s on your soundtrack.  And that’s not what I’m trying to do tonight.”

 

“Just for tonight though, huh?”

 

Skye smacked Ward again right before he pulled into Coulson’s driveway and said his goodbye, and offered her good luck for that night, quickly then pulled back onto the road. Skye ran into the house and up to her room.  She looked around and felt like there was something off.  Taking another look, she realized the room had been cleaned, and there was a new addition.  Against one of the walls, a television stand and TV had been brought in.  Skye’s jaw dropped and she took a moment before reaching for her phone. She pulled up Coulson’s number and called him.  A generic ringtone played and could be heard through the wall next to her.  The sound stopped as Coulson answered, “Hey, Skye. What’s up?”

 

“Hey, um, are you in your study?”

 

The line was cut off and Skye heard the door open in the hallway.  Coulson entered her room, “Sorry.  I didn’t hear you come in.  I was getting some work done.”

 

“What is that?” Skye was pointing to the new furniture.

 

“Oh yeah. I had that sitting in the basement and I meant to put it in here before you moved in.  Seeing as Jemma’s coming over tonight, I finally decided to actually bring it up here.”

 

Skye gaped at him for a moment, “Um, thanks.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” Coulson gave her a tight-lipped smile and went to leave the room.

 

“What are you doing home so early, anyway?  Not that I mind.”

 

“I took the afternoon off. I didn’t really have anything that needed to be done immediately, so I took the rest of the day off.”

 

“Cool. But seriously, thanks for this.”

 

Coulson just smiled again and left the room, returning to the next room.  Skye looked around and saw that he had not touched her bag other than to move it.  She decided to finally unpack.  That took a little bit of time, and she decided to kill the rest of the time waiting for Simmons by watching her new TV.

 

Attached to the TV was a box that allowed her to get all the channels available in the living room, as well as access Netflix.  She shook her head at how drastically her life had changed in the past week. Skye flipped on Netflix and began searching through the choices.  She found a show that had been cancelled a while back and flipped it on. Time flew by as she watched three of the episodes without even noticing.  A knock on the frame of her door caught her attention.  She turned from the TV to see Simmons standing in the doorway with a duffel bag in her hand.

 

The girls smiled at each other, “Hey, Jemma!”

 

“Hello Skye, I figured I should knock since I surprised you last time.”

 

Skye laughed as she stood up, “Thanks for that.  Here, you can set your stuff down.”

 

Skye took Simmons’ bag and set it on the bed.  “So, Skye. What would you like to do first?”

 

Skye blushed lightly and pushed her hair behind her ear, “I’m not sure actually.  I’ve never actually had a, like, a real sleepover before.”

 

“Me either.”

 

“Really? Why not?”

 

“I never really had girl friends before.  I’ve only really had Fitz.”

 

“Me too. Well, I’ve had Ward.”

 

“So, I guess we’ll just have to figure this out for ourselves.”

 

Simmons was smiling at Skye as she said this, and Skye felt her pulse increase. Thankfully, so Skye couldn’t make a fool out of herself, Coulson knocked on the door at this moment. “Hey girls, I’m going to make spaghetti for dinner.  Anyone object?”

 

Both girls shook their heads and Coulson nodded and left.  The two remaining in the room were silent.  Simmons decided to break the silence after a few seconds. “So what were you watching?”

 

“Just some old TV show. You watch a lot of TV?”

 

“Not really. I watch a little, but nothing you’d be interested in, I’m sure.  Mostly just documentaries and the like; and Doctor Who, I am British after all.” Simmons replied with a giggle.

 

Skye felt her heart flutter at the giggle.  “Doctor Who, huh? I’ve seen a couple episodes. You want to watch one before Coulson finishes dinner?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Simmons smiled as Skye reached for the remote.  She flipped the first episode on and the pair sat next to each other on the bed. Skye had seen the episode once, but it seemed as if Simmons had watched it at least a dozen times. Jemma was quoting different parts under her breath, but just loud enough that Skye could make it out if she listened closely.  By the time the episode ended, Coulson was yelling that the food was done.  The two girls stood up and went to walk towards the door, but Skye grabbed Simmons’ wrist, “Jemma.”

 

Simmons turned around and furrowed her brow at Skye in confusion, “What?”

 

Skye looked her right in the eyes and tried to keep a smile from breaking out on her face before yelling, “Run!”

 

Skye ran out the door to her room and towards the stairs while pulling Jemma along behind her. Both of them were laughing when the reached the kitchen, which Coulson just smiled at as he placed two plates on the table.  Simmons was trying to calm herself down as she spoke, “Skye, be careful.  We don’t want you taking another fall, and I certainly don’t want to be pulled down with you if it happens.”

 

“Sorry, Doctor. I’ll try to be more careful.”

 

Even Coulson found himself grimacing at Skye’s impression of the other girl’s way of speaking. Simmons shook her head. “How can you hear Fitz and I talk, and have just watched an hour of Doctor Who, and still not even be close to giving a good accent?”

 

Skye clutched at her chest, “Ouch Jemma.  That hurts.”

 

Coulson laughed at their antics, “Why don’t you two just sit down and eat.”

 

“Aren’t you going to join us AC?”

 

“No. I figured you wouldn’t want me intruding on your fun.  Plus, I’m having a guest of my own.”

 

“Really? Who?”

 

The doorbell rang at this moment.  Coulson just smiled and walked away.  Skye looked over at Simmons and cocked an eyebrow.  Simmons was sitting down at the table in front of a plate and pulling a napkin in front of her.  She looked up at Skye and tilted her head, “What?”

 

“Aren’t you curious who Coulson’s having over?”

 

“Not overly.”

 

“What? You’re not curious at all?”

 

“Sure, a little. But it’s none of our business, and this food smells delicious.”

 

“Alright, I’ll agree that it does smell good, but come on you have to be wondering.” Skye sat down next to Simmons, “How do you not want to know?”

 

“I guess you’re just a more curious person than me.”

 

Skye huffed and picked up her fork.  The two kept conversation during dinner and when they finished went back up to Skye’s room. They changed into pajamas, Simmons moved into the bathroom to do so, and then turned on the next episode of Doctor Who and watched for the next few hours.  By eleven, the two were craving ice cream, so Skye hopped down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen.  She heard a small laugh from the dining room.  Freezing in her steps, she looked and saw that the ice cream scoop was already sitting next to the sink and there was a bottle of chocolate syrup next to it. Skye pushed any thoughts out of her mind and grabbed the ice cream from the freezer along with two bowls, and the chocolate syrup of course, and proceeded to make the desserts. On her way back to the stairs, she heard hushed voices and another laugh, this one being definitely feminine.

 

Skye’s curiosity got the best of her and she set the bowls down on the island.  She peaked around the corner to the dining room. She saw Coulson sitting at the table with a spoon in his hand and a bowl in front of him.  The woman sitting across from him was in a black dress and had her black hair flowing across her shoulders.  Coulson dipped the spoon into the bowl and reached it across to the woman.  She took the bite of ice cream and Skye imagined they were smiling at each other, as she could see Coulson’s smile.  Coulson’s eyes redirected over the woman’s shoulder.  “Skye? Did you need something?”

 

Skye almost fell over. “Um, no.  I was just getting ice cream for me and Jemma.”

 

Coulson stood up and looked at the woman, “I’ll be right back.”  He walked over to Skye with a smile.  “Take a break from getting dessert to spy on me?”

 

“I was just curious. Sorry.”  Skye’s voice was low and she had found her feet extremely interesting all of a sudden.

 

She felt Coulson’s hand on her shoulder.  She raised her eyes up to him to see one of his patented smiles, “It’s alright. Just, next time, how about we try to let each other have a little privacy?”

 

“Alright. Sounds good.”

 

“And Skye. Just so you know, when you have friends over, your door stays open.  At least a little.”

 

Skye turned back to the table and grabbed the bowls, hiding the blush.  As she headed back toward the stairs, she heard the woman’s voice. “Phil, did you not tell her I was coming here?”

 

The voice froze her on the stairs.  Ms. May? Skye was about to turn around and make sure she heard correctly when she saw Simmons appear at the top of the stairs. “Oh, there you are Skye.”

 

“Yeah. I was just talking to Coulson.”

 

The girls returned to Skye’s room, and Skye made sure to leave the door cracked.  They enjoyed their ice cream while finishing the episode of Doctor Who they were on.  When it finished, Skye stood up and stretched, causing a groan to be pulled from her throat. “I need to move some.”

 

“Well then, sounds like we need to find something else to do then.”

 

“Like what? Take a lap around the house?”

 

Simmons laughed, “Yeah. Either that or a dance party.”

 

Skye’s eyes lit up. Simmons looked up and her smile dropped. She started shaking her head. “Simmons, that’s an awesome idea.”

 

“No, no, no. I—I don’t dance. I was kidding.”

 

Skye grabbed Simmons by the arms and pulled her up, “Come on, Jemma.”

 

Simmons continued to shake her head, “I can’t dance.”

 

“Neither can I, but that doesn’t matter.  Please?”

 

Skye tried the same puppy dog face she used to use on Ward.  Simmons sighed, “Fine.”

 

Skye grinned and turned to her laptop.  She flipped it open and turned on some Top 40 dance song and started dancing.  She shook her hips as she walked towards Simmons and grabbed her hands.  Shaking the British girl’s arms, she tried to get her to move.  Simmons started to move her shoulders and Skye began jumping up and down. After a couple songs, both girls were jumping and shaking their hips and singing along.  They were catching their breath after a song ended as the next one faded in and Skye fell onto her bed.  The girls’ hands were still entwined so Skye ended up accidentally pulling Jemma down with her.

 

Simmons yelped as she fell and landed on top of Skye.  Simmons rolled off Skye as they were both laughing.  Jemma took a deep breath and followed it with a yawn. Skye laughed, “I agree. I’m wiped.”

 

“I’m pretty well tuckered.”

 

“Well then, I say we call it a night now.”

 

“Alright. So, where can I sleep?”

 

Skye scooted up the bed far enough that she could pull the blankets down, “Climb in.”

 

Simmons face went a dark pink immediately.  “Um, are you sure?”

 

Skye was already fluffing her pillow and laying down into it, trying to hide her nerves, “Yeah, it’s cool.”

 

Skye closed her eyes and felt the other girl moving to get under the covers beside her. She was trying to keep her breathing as normal as possible as the heat from Simmons’ body came closer to her side. It wasn’t too long before Simmons’ breathing evened out and it was obvious she was asleep.  Skye smiled and she started to fade into sleep.

 

Skye woke up suddenly. Her eyes shot open and she tried to get her bearings in the dark.  A weight was lying across her arm and chest.  She looked down and saw Simmons’ head laying on her arm and the other girl’s arm draped over her.  Skye smiled at the image as she fully awakened.  Her ears caught the sounds that her laptop was still releasing.  _Could this be any cheesier?_ She berated the situation, but smiled anyway.  The world around her faded back into dreamland as she curled into Jemma and wrapped her arms around her and listened to Steven Tyler sing about how he didn’t want to miss a thing. Skye could agree with that sentiment.


	8. If Luck Is On My Side Tonight

Skye woke up feeling oddly cold.  She reached up and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.  Finally opening them completely, she noticed the blanket was pulled at an odd angle and there was a dent in the pillow next to her.  It took a moment before her mind caught up to her and she remembered the night before.  A smile brushed upon her lips as she thought back to how she had been curled up and cuddling with Jemma only a short time before.

 

Jemma. Had she already left, without even letting her know somehow?  Skye reached for her phone and shut her eyes as the light reached her. There wasn’t a message waiting for her and, as she looked around, she didn’t see a note or anything lying anywhere. She pulled the cover off her and stood up.  As she made her way down the stairs, she heard quiet voices.  _Did Ms. May stay the night? Coulson, you dog!_ Skye smiled as she reached the bottom step. Turning the corner, she realized that it was not Coulson’s guest sitting in the kitchen with him.

 

Skye walked around the corner and saw Simmons sitting across from Coulson at the table. Simmons had already gotten dressed and ready for the day it seemed, and Coulson was, predictably, in a suit. Skye felt a little underdressed considering she was still in her pajamas and her hair was a mess from the night’s sleep.  She ran her hand through her hair in an attempt to tame it, “Hey guys.”

 

Simmons looked up from the cup in front of her, “Good morning, Skye.  How are you?”

 

“I’m alright. How long have you two been up?”

 

“I’ve been up for about an hour.  Mr. Coulson was already up and making coffee.  He offered to make me some tea and we got to talking.”

 

Coulson smiled, “How is that tea by the way?”

 

Simmons set the cup down on the table, “It is lovely.  The best I’ve had since we came here, excluding my mother’s.  Sorry.”

 

Coulson just nodded, “I’m honored.  I spent some time in the UK myself.  I may have picked up on some of the tricks.”

 

Skye sat down next to Jemma, “Why were you in the UK?”

 

“I was stationed there for a while.”

 

Simmons tilted her head at him, “Stationed?  You were in the military?”

 

Coulson nodded again, “Yeah. I spent almost twenty years in the service.”

 

A crease appeared in Skye’s forehead as she considered that.  “Wait, twenty years?  Your force got shut down ten years ago, though.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“That would make you, like, fifty.”

 

“Yeah, your point?”

 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Skye was shaking her head. “You’re fifty?”

 

“Fifty-two, actually. You saw my file, didn’t you know?”

 

“I didn’t look at your age.”

 

Simmons had been sitting off to the side, silently sipping her tea and watching the exchange. Coulson was smiling and chuckling at Skye, who still looked a little stunned.  They sat in relative silence for a few moments before a phone went off. Skye and Coulson both smirked as Simmons embarrassingly reached into her pocket and fished out the phone that had been playing the _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ theme. “I’m sorry, it’s Fitz. I should probably be going. He and I are going to the science center later today.”

 

Coulson stood up, “Well, it was good to have this chat with you Miss Simmons.  I’m going to head out to the garage.”

 

“I enjoyed our conversation as well.  Thank you for the tea.”

 

Coulson smiled at the visitor and walked out to the garage.  Skye and Jemma were left standing in the kitchen by themselves. Jemma turned toward Skye and smiled. Skye couldn’t help but smile back, “I have to say: this is the best sleepover I’ve been to.”

 

Jemma laughed and rolled her eyes, “I have to agree.”

 

Simmons turned away from Skye and took a reluctant step.  Skye stepped up next to her, and the pair walked slowly to the door. As they moved to the entryway, Skye saw Jemma’s bag sitting next to the door.  “Trying to make a quick escape, were you?”

 

Jemma looked at the bag and blushed, “No, of course not!  I just didn’t want to intrude on your room any more than I already had.”

 

Skye just smiled and shook her head.  “You didn’t intrude. I did invite you.”

 

Jemma nodded back at her, “I know, and thank you for that.”

 

Skye cleared her throat and bounced between her feet.  She took a tentative step forward and moved to hug Simmons.  The girls met in an embrace.  They were forced to separate when Jemma’s phone rang again. She huffed out Fitz’s name and furiously typed out her response.  After returning her phone to her pocket, she grinned shyly at Skye. “I guess I must really be going now.”

 

“I guess so.” Skye crossed her arms across her stomach and looked to the floor, “I really did have a great time.”

 

Skye peeked up and saw Simmons averting her gaze, but smiling all the same.  “I did as well.”

 

Jemma picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder.  Skye leaned over and slowly opened the door.  “I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

 

Simmons stepped onto the porch, “I shall see you Monday.  Goodbye.”

 

“Bye.” Skye smiled at Jemma, and the other girl returned the action before turning and walking to her car.

 

Simmons pulled out of the driveway and down the road before Skye shut the door.  After the door closed behind her, she turned intending to go back to the kitchen.  Instead, as soon as she turned, she let out a shriek and almost jumped into the air. Coulson was leaning against the wall behind her, giving her one of those unreadable Mona Lisa smiles. “What the—“ Skye clutched at her chest, “How long have you been standing there?”

 

“I heard her pull away, so I came back in.  I wanted to talk to you, but you were otherwise occupied.”

 

Skye blushed and the smile never left Coulson’s face.  “So what did you want to talk about?”

 

“I have a surprise for you.”

 

Coulson reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a credit card.  He held it out to Skye.  She looked up at him cautiously.  “What is this?”

 

“It’s my card. Ward told me about your Homecoming plans, so I made a couple calls.  Maria and Natasha are on their way, and they should be picking up Mrs. Ward as well. I’m no good at this kind of thing, so I asked if they would be interested in helping you find a dress.”

 

Skye stared at him; slack jawed, for a long moment.  When she gained her wits back, she leaped at Coulson and hugged him. Coulson responded by lightly wrapping his arms around her shoulders.  She squeezed him tightly and then backed away, “Sorry.  But thank you.”

 

“You don’t have to apologize. And you’re welcome.” Coulson stuck the card back out at her.

 

Skye took the card and stared at it as she shifted it between her fingers.  Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath and pulled it towards her chest.  “Seriously, thank you.”

 

Coulson just smiled and turned back to the garage.  “I’m going to go work on Lola, your shopping partners should be here in a little bit. You may want to get dressed.”

 

The girl’s eyes traveled across the card in her hands.  Philip J. Coulson was, by far, the best foster parent she’d had so far. _So far._ That thought scared her for the first time in years.  She had gotten used to the idea that she wouldn’t find a family to take her in, that she could just move in with the Ward’s when she was finally out of the system. It never occurred to her that she would find a foster home that she wanted to stay in again.  Steeling herself, she closed her eyes tightly and made a decision. If she had anything to say about it, she would be staying with Coulson for as long as she could.

 

Clearing her mind of these thoughts for the moment, Skye ran up to her room and grabbed her clothes. She jumped in and out of the shower as quickly as she could so that she would be ready when everyone got to Coulson’s house.  The doorbell rang as Skye was tying her hair up into a ponytail.  Her footsteps were sure to be heard by everyone when she rushed down the stairs to meet the visitors.  Coulson had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and was smiling at her when she reached the bottom.  “Ready to go?”

 

Skye smiled up at him, “Yes I am.”

 

She leaned in and hugged Coulson for the second time today; for the second time ever. He returned the gesture and patted her on the back.  They walked to the front door together, Coulson’s hand on Skye’s shoulder.  Skye reached for the handle and quickly pulled the door open. On the other side, Maria and Natasha standing next to each other, holding hands, and in front of them was standing Mrs. Ward.  “Carrie!”

 

Skye rushed towards her, out from under Coulson’s hand, and jumped into her arms.  Carrie squeezed the younger girl, “Hello sweetheart. I’ve missed you over at the house.”

 

“I missed you too.”

 

The pair separated and Skye greeted the other two women with hugs.  Coulson reached out and gave quick hugs and kisses on the cheek to Maria and Natasha, then turned to Mrs. Ward.  “Hello, Mrs. Ward.  I’m Phil Coulson.”

 

“Hello Mr. Coulson. I hope our Skye isn’t giving you too much trouble.”  Mrs. Ward grinned at Skye.

 

“She doesn’t cause too much trouble.  Scared me a little this past week and kept me up last night dancing with her friend, but other than that she’s been well-behaved.”

 

“Her friend?” Maria eyed Skye as she asked the question.

 

Natasha was holding back a smile, like she already knew all of Skye’s secrets.  Coulson looked over at Skye with one of his tight-lipped smiles. “Yes.  Miss Simmons stayed the night here last night, and the two of them kept me up for a while with all their noise and dancing.”

 

Skye blushed as she saw a smirk on Maria and Natasha’s faces and the beaming smile on Mrs. Ward’s. She quickly found a way to change the subject.  “Well, I’d think your date would have kept you busy enough to ignore me and Jemma.”

 

Two of the three faces looking at Skye turned to face Coulson; Mrs. Ward of course kept her eyes on Skye. Maria, however, jumped at the opportunity to question Coulson.  “Phil? Did you have a date last night?”

 

Coulson had his usual mask on, so no one could really tell what he was feeling, “As a matter of fact, I did.”

 

Natasha stepped closer to her fiancée and wrapped her arm around the woman, “Would we know her?”

 

“You might.” He gave her a smile.

 

Maria rolled her eyes, “If Skye knows, then she’s probably going to tell us anyway, Phil.”

 

Coulson just smiled and turned back to the kitchen and shouted over his shoulder, “You ladies have fun.”

 

The two engaged women laughed and moved to the door.  Maria shook her head and looked to Skye, “He was right, though.  We should get going.”

 

The group walked to Maria’s black sedan and piled in.  Maria placed herself behind the wheel, with Natasha next to her and Mrs. Ward and Skye in the back.  As Maria started towards the highway, she looked in the rearview mirror at Skye, a glint in her eyes. “So Skye, Jemma spent the night last night?”

 

Skye looked down and pulled her ponytail over her shoulder.  She started running her fingers through the hair.  “Yes.”

 

“How did that go?”

 

“It was fun.” Skye smiled to herself, “We just hung out and watched Doctor Who.”

 

Natasha turned around and smirked at her, “And danced, apparently.”

 

Skye knew her cheeks carried a heavy blush, “A little.  We were stiff from sitting and watching TV, so I turned on some music and we were jumping around.”

 

Mrs. Ward placed her hand on Skye’s thigh, “I’m glad you had fun, sweetie.”

 

Skye smiled up at her and leaned over to meet her shoulder, “It’s good to see you Carrie.”

 

Mrs. Ward placed a kiss on her head.  Natasha turned back to face the road ahead and grabbed her fiancée’s hand.  Maria smiled and glanced back at Skye, “So, I hear Coulson had a date last night.”

 

It was Skye’s turn to smile and laugh, “Yeah.  I saw him and his lady friend sharing ice cream.”

 

Maria and Natasha simultaneously made an “aw” noise and laughed.  Natasha turned back again, “So who was she?”

 

Skye sat straight up, “Um, it was my vice principal.”

 

Mrs. Ward’s head whipped towards her, “Ms. May?”

 

Skye nodded at her. The car fell into a soft silence as they continued to the store.  Natasha and Maria were holding hands as Maria drove, and Skye and Mrs. Ward had their arms interlocked in the back seat.  They reached the dress shop and walked in together.  Immediately, Natasha’s eyes lit up.  Maria noticed instantly and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman’s waist.  “Nat, stay calm. Skye doesn’t need you throwing a hundred dresses at her.”

 

Natasha looked up and pouted at her, “I’m not going to throw too many dresses at her.”

 

Maria directed her attention to the other two, “She doesn’t get the chance to do stuff like this a lot.”

 

Natasha removed herself from Maria’s grip.  “I just miss this. I haven’t done anything ‘girly’,” Natasha put the last word in air quotes, “in years.  My life doesn’t give me time, or reason, to do it.”

 

Skye looked around and felt her heart race increase, “Well, here’s your chance.  I have no idea what to do here.”

 

Natasha stood up straight and reached her hand out towards Skye, “Let’s get started.” When Skye took her hand she looked over to Maria and Mrs. Ward, “I’m going to take care of Skye over here, why don’t you two start looking for dresses?”

 

The pairs split and Skye felt like she was spinning.  There were tape measures thrown around her body and fabrics and color swatches held up next to her.  She shut her eyes, hoping that she could start to focus.  Natasha’s voice was piercing the confusion, occasionally making Skye chuckle. It wasn’t until Natasha dragged the younger girl to the dressing room that Skye felt like the room was still again. A deep breath filled Skye’s lungs and she rubbed her face in her hands.  Looking around, she saw a small collection of dresses hanging in the room. “Skye!  When you try those on, we all want to see all of them!”

 

The redheaded woman’s voice carried into the dressing room and Skye held back a groan. She steeled herself and picked the first dress off the rack.  _Oh God.  Pink?_ Skye’s eyes searched the room for an escape.  Seeing none, she made the effort to pull the dress on.  Her reflection showed her form in the dress that reached the floor. She spun her hips and watched the dress spin.  _Well, I don’t look bad._

 

A knock on the door pulled her from staring at her own reflection.  “Hey there Skye.  Are you having any trouble?”

 

Instead of answering, Skye just opened the door, much to Natasha’s surprise.  The older woman smiled at her.  Skye frowned, “I don’t like pink.”

 

Natasha grabbed her hand and pulled her out to get the other women’s opinions.  Maria and Mrs. Ward complimented her, but agreed that she didn’t look comfortable.  Skye reiterated her dislike of the color and then turned back into the dressing room. Sliding the dress off, she looked around the small room at the dresses hanging on the wall.  _This is going to be a long day._

 

Skye spent the next two hours pulling dresses on and off.  When the pieces of devil cloth were running low in the dressing room, Natasha would throw more in.  Skye’s eyes shut as she rubbed her temples in a way to fight the headache that was appearing. Not paying any attention to the task at hand, she deftly removed her current dress and slid the next one on. After what seemed like thousands of times doing this, she thought she could do it in her sleep. Finally opening her eyes fully, Skye looked in the mirror and gasped.  Natasha must have been standing right outside the door, because a knock came following the sound.  “Skye, honey, are you alright?”

 

Skye shook her head, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

Skye opened the door and stepped out into the store.  The three women that accompanied her to the store were throwing compliments at her, but they fell on deaf ears.  All Skye could sense was the reflection of herself in the mirror.  Even with her hair in just a ponytail and no makeup or anything, Skye could see herself as someone who belonged at one of these stupid dances.

 

The gown went down just past her knees and flowed fairly comfortably.  It fit her body like it was made for her, almost perfectly matching her curves. At her hips, the fabric split from her body and danced around her legs lightly.  Skye was in awe of herself, wrapped in this purple, sequined, strapless dress.

 

A waving hand in front of Skye pulled her out of her reverie.  “Skye?  What do you think?”

 

Skye looked over at Natasha, who had brought her hand back to her own side.  Her attention then flipped to Maria and Mrs. Ward, who were both waiting for her response.  “This is it.” Skye smiled as she said the words. This was her dress.

 

Her entourage smiled and agreed with her.  Skye retreated back to the dressing room for a final time.  She replaced the dress with her regular clothes and moved back to meet with the other ladies. The return from the store was filled with more of an excited chatter than the first trip, and by the time they reached Coulson’s house all of the women had laughed enough to at least bring a tear to their eyes.  When they reached the door, they found the door unlocked and walked right in. The group found Coulson sitting in his recliner with his glasses on and a book in his hands. He looked up at them and smiled. “Any success?”

 

Skye pulled the dress bag over her shoulder and nodded at him.  Maria patted her on the shoulder, “Why don’t you put it on and let him see?”

 

Before Skye could complain, Mrs. Ward jumped in.  “You should, Skye. I’m sure Mr. Coulson would like to see it.  Plus, I forgot to get a picture.”

 

Coulson closed his book, “Please, you can just call me Phil.  But she is right, I would love to see your dress.”

 

Skye’s shoulders dropped, but she walked up to her room and threw the dress on her bed. She emptied her pockets onto the bed, and her phone lit up as it hit the surface.  It had four notifications on the screen.  Picking up the device, she unlocked it and checked her messages. There was a message from Ward, Simmons, and two from Fitz.  Her curiosity was peaked as to why Fitz messaged her, or how he even got her number, but she clicked on Simmons’ message first.

 

 **Jemma:** Hello Skye.  I wanted to thank you again for inviting me to come over. I had a really great time.

 

Skye smiled and bit her lip. She typed back her message quickly.

 

 **Skye:** I had an awesome time too.  I’d be up to do it again sometime.

 

Then she moved on to Fitz’s message.  Opening it, she saw a picture message loading in with a caption reading “Someone is quite worn out today.”  When the picture appeared, Skye couldn’t help but laugh.  Simmons was leaning against a display case with what seemed to be a replica dinosaur skull in it.  It appeared that Simmons had been observing the skull when she dozed off.  Her forehead was resting against the glass case and her shoulder had met the glass underneath that.

 

Fitz’s second message was also a picture.  This one was just him with an eyebrow raised questioningly, and Simmons continuing to lean against the glass case behind him.  Skye couldn’t contain her laughter; she ended up lying on her bed silently cackling at the photographs.  Making sure to save both to her phone first, she moved on to Ward’s message.

 

 **Ward:** Have fun last night?  Did you need my soundtrack?

 

Skye rolled her eyes. _Of course that’s his first thought._   She sat down on her bed and typed her reply.

 

 **Skye:** It was fun.  And no, we had our own soundtrack.

 

She leaned back and waited for the response.  Opening her phone back up she giggled at her own message.  The phone beeped in her hands and Ward’s next message popped up.

 

 **Ward:** You’ll have to give me that mix. Let me see if I can make it work the magic too.

 

 **Skye:** There wasn’t any “magic” like that Ward.

 

 **Ward:** Like that?

 

Skye squirmed a little on her bed and smiled.

 

 **Skye:** We ended up cuddling on my bed.

 

 **Ward:** Good job shorty.  I’ll make sure to high five you tomorrow.

 

Skye was about to respond when someone knocked on the door.  Mrs. Ward’s voice carried through the door, “Hey Skye, sweetie, you okay in there?”

 

The girl stood up form her bed and threw the phone back down.  “Yeah. I got distracted, sorry. I’ll be down in a minute.”

 

Skye threw her clothes off and rushed to pull the dress on.  She struggled with the zipper and went to the door.  Opening the door, she saw Mrs. Ward standing there. The woman saw her holding the dress together and rushed over to help.  Mrs. Ward zipped up the dress and then rubbed her shoulders. “You look beautiful, Skye.”

 

“Thanks, Carrie.” Skye grabbed Mrs. Ward’s hands.

 

The pair walked down the stairs, back into the living room, where everyone else was waiting. Maria and Natasha smiled at Skye as soon as she walked in, and Coulson joined them in the gesture after a few moments of awe.  Coulson clasped his hands, “Skye.  You look fantastic.”

 

“Thanks AC.”

 

Mrs. Ward pulled her phone from her purse and stepped in front of Skye, “I need a picture of this.”

 

Skye put on a small smile after she pushed her hair back behind her.  Mrs. Ward aimed the phone camera at Skye and snapped a couple pictures. As she was trying to take another, her phone beeped at her.  She huffed out her annoyance.  “I told Grant I’d show him your dress and he’s getting impatient.  I guess I should probably be getting going anyway.”

 

Skye laughed, “Would you punch him for me when you get home?”

 

Mrs. Ward chuckled at the question while she pulled the younger girl in for a hug.  “I’ll make sure he gets the message.”

 

Maria stood up with Natasha on her arm, “We’ll drive you home, Carrie.  We need to get going as well.”

 

Hugs were exchanged all around and the trio of visitors left.  Skye went up the stairs and changed clothes for the night.  She made sure to hang the dress back up very carefully in her closet. As she moved to throw her used clothes over to the side, something fell from the pocket of her pants. It was Coulson’s credit card. Picking it up, Skye quickly moved back down the stairs to return it.  She found Coulson sitting in the same place as when she left, in his recliner, looking at his phone.  He looked up at her as she entered the room and she flashed the card at him. “Thought you might want this back.”

 

Coulson leaned forward and took the card from her, “Thank you.  I’m sure I’d be missing that at some point tomorrow.”

 

Skye grinned at him as he placed the card in its usual place.  “And thanks again for letting me use it.”

 

He sat back in his chair, “Well, I figured I could trust you with it, especially since you were with three responsib—well, three adults.”

 

Skye couldn’t help but laugh at the statement.  Coulson stood up and walked towards the stairs, and Skye was right on his heels. As they reached the top, Skye stepped in front of him and gave him a hug.  She felt his arms around her shoulders and squeezed a little before backing away.  “Thank you, for everything.”

 

Coulson smiled, actually showing his teeth for once, and patted her on the back.  “You’re welcome, Skye.  I’m going to bed, so I’ll see you in the morning.  Good night.”

 

“Good night, AC.”

 

Skye walked into her room and shut the door then dropped down onto the bed.  Her phone bounced next to her and she reached over to grab it. She had another message from Ward waiting for her.

 

 **Ward:** Looking good, Skye.  My little sis is growing up.

 

Skye couldn’t fight the urge to roll her eyes, but she smiled anyway.

 

 **Skye:** Thanks Ward.  Can’t wait to see how you clean up.

 

 **Ward:** Oh, you’ve got nothing on me.  I clean up good.

 

Skye’s laugh came out almost as a bark.  She shook her head and decided it was best just to ignore Ward and get some sleep. She pulled the covers up and tried to get comfortable. As much as she tried, she couldn’t shake an odd feeling.  It took her a few minutes to figure out what it was that was bothering her. She had really enjoyed the feeling of someone next to her.  After so many years of moving from place to place, uncomfortable situation to yet another, actually being with someone and feeling good was a feeling Skye wanted to be able to get used to.  Eventually however, she was able to fall into a fitful sleep.

 

The next morning came with a lack of sleep and a high five from Ward.  The rest of the day passed at what seemed like a snail’s pace to Skye. The four days after that passed just as slowly.  Whether Skye was just bored with school, which is all too likely, or her excitement for the weekend was causing time to crawl like this, she didn’t appreciate it. Friday night took too long to arrive, but when it did Skye was ready.

 

Skye showed up at the football field decked out in Ward’s away jersey and face paint to match. She had Ward’s number painted under each eye and a line of paint down the length of her nose. She cheered as loudly as she could throughout the game, and made sure she was the loudest when Ward walked with Sharon down the middle of the field during the halftime ceremonies. Ward led the team to a win, as he had every other game so far this season, and came off the field holding his helmet high for the crowd.

 

Skye ended up at the Ward’s house celebrating until almost one in the morning.  It wasn’t until she got a phone call from Coulson that she realized how late it was.  She apologized profusely for the lateness over the phone, and in person after Ward drove her back over to Coulson’s house.  Coulson met her at the door.  “AC, I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

 

“It’s fine Skye. Just try to let me know when you’re going to be this late.”

 

“So what’s the verdict?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What’s the punishment? Am I grounded or something for coming back so late?”

 

“No, just make sure to check in with me next time.”

 

Skye tried to blink the confusion away.  Most foster parents would at least ground her for something like this; some even called Maria for it. “So, just a warning?”

 

“Pretty much. I just want to know where you are.” Coulson stifled a yawn, “Now I suggest getting to bed, you have a big day tomorrow.”

 

The girl took a couple steps towards the stairs before turning and giving Coulson a hug. As soon as she released her hold around him, she hurried her way up the stairs and into her room. Skye’s heart was racing; it was time for Homecoming.  Her nerves were kicking in full force now.  Once she woke up it would be a day full of things she wasn’t used to. Getting her hair done, making sure her makeup was perfect, wearing a dress, and actually going out with a girl she liked.  It wasn’t actually a date, but as far as Skye was concerned it was just as terrifying. She set her alarm for nine in the morning and tried to settle in for some rest.

 

Come nine o’clock, Skye was cursing every decision she’d made the night before.  Everything from her decision to stay at the Ward’s so late, to her idea to even set the alarm.  Either way, she rolled out of bed and tried to shake the sleep from her mind. Skye figured she should start getting ready for the day ahead, as much as she could for now. As she opened her door, she saw Coulson raising his hand to knock on it.  “Skye. I was just coming up to see if you were up.”

 

“Yeah, I’m awake.”

 

Coulson smiled at her as he adjusted the collar on his polo shirt.  _It’s like he’s going for the dad look._ The man was wearing the blue shirt, khakis, and a pair of white running shoes that Skye didn’t even know he owned. He looked down at his watch and then at Skye again.  “You should get ready, and then we can head over to the Wards’ house.”

 

Skye nodded and walked down to the bathroom.  After a quick shower, dressed in an old t-shirt and sweatpants, Skye and Coulson jumped into his SUV. It was a short, quiet drive to the Ward household and as soon as they reached the driveway the front door opened. Mrs. Ward was standing in the doorway, waiting on Skye with a smile.  Skye rushed into the house, past the black sedan in the driveway, leaving Coulson to carry the dress in.

 

The following hours consisted of Mrs. Ward pulling and spraying her hair and Maria and Natasha sorting out various pieces of jewelry that Skye could wear that night. After she was given curls about halfway up the length of her hair, Maria helped her put in the small silver earrings she and Natasha had picked out, along with the slim necklace around her neck, and then Natasha went to work on her makeup.  Natasha gave Skye an unpronounced covering and accented her eyes and lips.  Skye moved to the other room and pulled her dress on.  She stopped by the bathroom and peeked into the mirror.  It was almost as if a different girl was looking back at her. For as long as Skye could remember, she was a little scrawny kid being kicked around from house to house and rejected by pretty much everyone.  Now she hated herself for being a cliché and thinking that she looked like a princess, but actually liked the image she saw in the mirror.  A smile adorned her face as she moved back to the living room.

 

All of the heads in the room turned to face Skye when she reentered.  Mrs. Ward may have had tears in her eyes, Maria and Natasha were applauding, and Coulson was smiling with his hands pressed together in front of him. Skye smiled and hid her face in her hands. She was never good at being the center of attention, especially in a situation like this.  A voice carried across the room, “Hey, mom! Do I have this tied right?”

 

The sound of shoes bounding down the stairs echoed across the now quiet room.  Grant Ward appeared in the room with a white dress shirt under an unbuttoned grey vest and grey dress pants.  He had a loose red tie around his neck and was fiddling with it. When his eyes finally rose, he noticed the number of people in the room.  “Oh, hey everybody.”  His eyes found Skye and his speech became breathless, “Shorty, you clean up nice.”

 

Skye gave a shy smile. “Thanks Grant. Having some trouble?”

 

He flicked the tie with the back of his hand, “I thought I had it, it just doesn’t look right to me.”

 

Coulson stood up and waved Ward towards him, “Come here Grant, I’ll help you out.”

 

Coulson grabbed the tie and retied it.  Grant tightened it up to his neck and buttoned the vest up over it.  “Alright, how do I look?”

 

Skye wrapped her arm around his waist.  “If I was into that kind of thing, I’d be all over you.”

 

Her joke received a chuckle from everyone in the room, and Grant gave her a hug.  He pulled his phone from the pocket of his pants. “Well, I should get over to pick up Sharon. Be back in a few minutes.”

 

Ward rushed out of the room and Skye suddenly realized something.  _Jemma!  I don’t know when she’s going to be here._ She ran and grabbed the pants she had been wearing and yanked her phone out of them.  There was a message from Simmons waiting for her.

 

 **Jemma:** Skye, I should be at the Wards’ house at about four.

 

 Skye checked the time. The clock on her phone read a quarter until four and, knowing what she did about Jemma Simmons, she figured Jemma would be there any moment.  Skye’s breathing immediately quickened.  She shook her hands, trying to calm the trembling.  The trip back to the living room seemed to take longer than usual, and as she reached it Mrs. Ward knew something was bothering her. “Sweetie, what’s the matter?”

 

“Jemma’s gonna be here any minute.”  Skye continued to shake her hands.

 

Mrs. Ward grabbed her arms lightly, “Calm down, dear.  It’s going to be fine.  Look at me.” Skye looked up into Mrs. Ward’s eyes and the older woman smiled at her, “You look beautiful.  Jemma is coming over here so she can go to this dance with you. Don’t worry about anything, you two are going to have a great time tonight.”

 

Skye shuttered to take a deep breath, “Thanks Carrie.”

 

The two leaned in and hugged just as the doorbell rang.  Skye’s muscles tightened immediately.  Maria stood up and patted Skye on the back, “I’ll get it.”

 

Mrs. Ward took a step back from Skye and nodded and smiled at her.  Skye stood in the middle of the room as Mrs. Ward sat on the couch next to Coulson while Natasha sat in the chair next to it.  Maria came back into the room, with a bright smile and she joined Natasha on the arm of the chair.

 

Following Maria into the room was Jemma Simmons in an emerald green dress that reached her ankles. Her hair was held up behind her head, with some loose strands falling into her face.  There was a light layering of makeup around her eyes, giving them a smoky look.  She held her hands behind her back and twisted at the hips.  “Hello Skye.  You, um, look beautiful.”

 

Skye was sure Grant heard her jaw hit the floor when Jemma walked into the room.  She was left gasping for air as her eyes ran up and down Simmons’ form.  “Jem—Jemma, you look, um, wow.”  Skye blinked a couple times, “You look amazing.”

 

Simmons stepped towards Skye, but averted her eyes, “Thank you.”

 

At that same time, Grant returned with his date.  There were introductions all around, and the entire group stepped outside for pictures. After that, the four high school students piled into Ward’s car, Grant and Sharon in the front and Skye and Jemma next to each other in the backseat.  They headed off to dinner before ending up back at the school.

 

Upon entering the building, the foursome headed towards the gym.  Sharon and Ward were walking arm in arm, so Skye bumped her shoulder into Simmons’.  When the other girl looked in her direction, Skye held her arm out and nodded towards the couple in front of them.  Jemma laughed and shook her head, and then reached and looped her arm with Skye’s. Skye hoped that Jemma couldn’t feel her heartbeat through their touch.

 

They reached the gym and the couples split off from each other.  Sharon and Grant went towards some members of the football team, while Jemma and Skye stood just inside the door.  “It is quite dark in here, and loud”

 

Skye nodded her answer, only to realize how stupid a decision that was and raised her voice, “Yeah. It is.”

 

Simmons shuffled nervously and leaned towards Skye, “I’m not quite sure what we’re supposed to do now.”

 

Skye lifted an eyebrow, “We’re supposed to dance!”

 

Simmons shut her eyes, “I was afraid you’d say that.”

 

During this conversation, the song that had been playing ended and the next started up. Skye looked towards the middle of the gym, where students were getting into rows.  “Come on, Jemma.  It’s the ‘Cha-Cha Slide’!  Everyone can do this.”

 

Skye dragged her friend into the back line of students and started dancing according to the commands from the song.  Both girls were laughing at each other by the end of the song and ended up hugging. The song after that was another club dance song.  So Skye grabbed Jemma’s hands and looked her right in the eye.  “Just like at the sleepover.”

 

Jemma smiled and nodded back. The two danced through as many songs as they could before grabbing a drink.  They had lost track of where Grant was, and at this point they didn’t care. When the two returned to the gym, the first slow song of the night was fading out and the pounding beat of another party song came through the speakers.  The girls returned to their ridiculous dancing for the next few songs, until another slow one came across.  Skye lit up at the first note.  “Oh, I love this song.”

 

Simmons laughed and smiled at her, “Well then, may I have his dance?”

 

Skye took a quick breath in. “Yeah, yeah.  Let’s dance.”

 

Simmons placed her arms across Skye’s shoulders and around the back of her neck. Skye cautiously put her hands on Simmons’ hips and rocked back and forth to the beat of the song. After a few seconds of slowly spinning at arms length, Simmons scooted forward so that the girls’ heads were nearly toughing. Jemma started humming the song, something that sent a calming rush through Skye’s body.  Skye started singing the lyrics into Simmons’ ear.

“So I’ll sing a melody

And hope to God she’s listening,

Sleeping softly while I sing.

And I’ll be your memories,

Your lullaby for all the times,

Hoping that my voice can get it right.”

 

“You do have a beautiful voice, Skye.”

 

“Thanks Jemma.”

 

Simmons adjusted her arms, bringing the girls even closer to each other.  Skye wrapped her arms around Jemma so that her fingertips met along the back of Simmons’ waist.  Jemma’s head ended up lying on Skye’s shoulder, nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Skye closed her eyes and just let herself enjoy the moment as she sang along to the song again,

“You could crush me,

Please don’t crush me.

Because baby I’m a dreamer for sure,

And I won’t let you down.

I swear this time I mean it.”

 

The couple continued to dance through the rest of the song and separated very slowly after the first notes of the next song started up.  They smiled at each other and then looked away.  Skye’s eyes moved towards the side of the gym, and found Ward looking at her.  He saw her eyes on him and gave her two thumbs up.  Skye patted Simmons on the arm and pointed towards Ward.  She grabbed the British girl’s hand and they walked over to him.

 

They arrived at around the same time another couple did.  Sharon and Grant had been standing off to the side by themselves, and were now joined by not only Skye and Jemma, but also a dark-skinned girl and her date.  The girl’s dark curls flowed over her shoulders, covering part of her flower dress. “Hey Sharon.  Hey Ward.”

 

Sharon gave the girl a polite smile.  “Hey Raina.”

 

“What are you two doing after the dance?”

 

Ward looked over at Raina for the first time, “I’m taking Skye and Simmons back home,” he nodded to the two girls, “and then Sharon back to her place.”

 

Raina ignored his answer completely, “You two should come to the after party at my place.”

 

Ward rubbed his temples and then ran his hand through his hair, “No can do. Like I already said, I have to take Skye and Simmons home, and get Sharon back before too late.”

 

Raina looked exasperated by the fact that Ward wasn’t caving in immediately. “Come on, the curfew isn’t important. Just ditch the losers and come over.”

 

Ward stood a little bit straighter and the muscles in his arms tightened visibly. “What was that?”

 

Raina looked him dead in the eyes with a smile, “I said: just come over. Drop the dorks and damn the curfew.”

 

Ward’s fists clenched to the point where his knuckles were white.  “You need to watch how you talk about my friends.”

 

Sharon grabbed at Ward’s elbow and ran her hand up and down his arm, trying to calm him down.  Skye had just ducked her head and avoided everyone’s gaze.  Ward was shaking as Raina delivered her response.  “You have a weird choice of friends.  The nerdy little new girl and your little pet lesbo orphan who just doesn’t belong.”

 

Raina barely finished her sentence before her head flew back, the cause of which being a fist connecting with her jaw.  The girl crumpled to the floor of the gym.  The remaining five were left standing in a tense silence, even with the music blasting from the speakers.  All of them were in states of shock, but none more than the one who had thrown the punch.

 

Jemma Simmons’ jaw hung loosely as her eyes darted between her hand and the girl currently on the floor.  It seemed that she was trying to form words, but just couldn’t.  She swallowed noticeably and then turned and marched quickly out of the gymnasium.  Skye quickly turned and chased her down.  “Jemma! Jemma, wait up!”

 

She finally caught up with the Brit when she sat down on a bench outside the front door of the school.  Simmons had her face in her hands and was shaking her head.  Skye sat down next to her and thought she could her the girl mumbling to herself. She wrapped her arm around Jemma’s shoulders and leaned in, “Hey, Jemma.  It’s okay.”

 

Simmons lifted her head and it seemed like tears were about to fall from her eyes. “No!  No, it is not okay.  I just punched someone!  I have never punched anyone in my entire life!  And to make it worse, I did it at a school function.  I could be suspended, or expelled.  I’ve never even been in any kind of real trouble before.”

 

Skye noticed that Simmons’ accent got heavier when she was upset.  She would have thought it was kind of cute, had it been a different situation.  Instead, she pulled the girl closer to her and hugged her tight.  “It’ll be fine.  I’ll take the blame for it.”

 

Simmons pulled away from Skye and looked at her in dumbstruck awe.  “Why would you do that?”

 

Skye shrugged, “I get in trouble a lot, so it’s no big deal to me.  Plus, I’ve wanted to do that for years.”  That received a choked giggle from the other girl. “And, it’s the least I can do. You did just knock out a girl for making fun of me.”

 

Simmons let a small smile tug at the corner of her lips, “I didn’t actually knock her out. Just down.”

 

Skye bumped her shoulder into Simmons’.  “Well, either way, thank you for standing up like that.  You’re my hero.”

 

Skye leaned in without thinking and pressed a kiss to Jemma’s cheek. When she pulled back, she realized what she did and began to blush.  The pair heard the door open and close then, and turned to see Grant and Sharon walking out to them.  Ward smiled, “You two ready to go home?”

 

Skye looked up at him, confused, “Isn’t there like another hour until the dance is over?”

 

Sharon smiled at her, “Yeah, but I don’t think much could happen to top watching Raina get punched out.  So we were thinking about heading back home.”

 

Simmons blushed furiously at the mention of her earlier action.  She just nodded and Skye agreed.  The two girls stood up and, while holding hands, followed Ward and Sharon to the car.  The ride back to the Wards’ house was quiet, but not uncomfortably so, and when they got back Skye and Simmons climbed into Jemma’s car so that Skye could return to her abode.

 

At Coulson’s house, Simmons walked Skye to the door.  They stopped on the porch and stood facing each other. Skye spoke up first, “Thanks for going with me Jemma.  I had a great time.”

 

Simmons smiled, “I did as well.  Other than that incident.”

 

Skye waved her off, “I enjoyed that too.  Watching Raina fall was pretty cool.”

 

The girls laughed at each other, and then stepped in for a hug.  Skye decided that she was going to give Jemma another kiss on the cheek, just like earlier.  Jemma had apparently decided on something very similar, because when Skye leaned her head in to place the kiss, their mouths were much closer than intended. The corners of their lips met briefly during the exchange.  Both girls only stepped back after briefly pausing, their breath on each other’s face.

 

Simmons gathered her words first, even if they were a bit breathless. “I had a wonderful time tonight, Skye. I’ll see you Monday.”

 

Skye smiled and nodded at her.  “Monday it is. Good night, Jemma.”

 

The shorter girl turned and walked towards her car, while Skye stepped through the door to the house.  She quietly shut the door behind her and stood listening to the engine of Simmons’ car fade away. Skye’s smile wouldn’t fall as she ran her hands through her hair and shook it out, all of the events of that night playing through her head.


	9. This Is Where The Road Crashed Into The Ocean

Skye was thoroughly confused. It was Wednesday, four days after Homecoming, and there was no sign of Simmons.  There hadn’t been since Monday, and even then it was just a glance as she rushed out of Mr. Stark’s class when Skye was walking in. She had sent five text messages to Simmons over the past few days, and none of them were answered. It was really beginning to worry Skye, and that worry was starting to show.

 

On her way to the cafeteria for lunch, Skye was running her hands through her hair and replaying the last few days.  Monday she had been called into Ms. May’s office to discuss the “fight” at the dance. Skye did as she said and took the blame for the singular punch that was thrown.  Her defense was that Raina was making fun of her and her friends, and she let her emotions get the best of her.  Most of that was true, it just wasn’t Skye who let loose, and May seemed to notice she was holding something back.  May had called Coulson while Skye was still in the office, on her cell phone and called him Phil which somewhat threw Skye off, and told him directly that Skye would be spending Friday after school in detention.

 

After that particularly fun encounter, Skye had gone through the day’s motions; seeing Jemma the one time.  The following days nearly repeated the performance, minus the office visit of course. Now that it had been three full days without speaking to Jemma after what Skye had considered a great night, she was questioning everything about the situation.  When she reached the table at lunch, Ward immediately saw that something was off.  A simple eyebrow raise conveyed the question, but Skye just shook her head, putting this conversation off until later.  Fitz joined them only moments later, fingers flying across his phone screen.  “Hello, guys.  How is everyone today?”

 

The Scot’s chipper tone somewhat surprised the other two.  It wasn’t the usual distracted kind of sound that they had come to expect. Ward cleared his throat and spoke up, “Not too bad, Fitz.  What’s got you in such a good mood?”

 

Fitz’s eyes rose from his phone for the first time.  He had a small smile on his face as he looked between his friends.  “Nothing really.”

 

The inflection of his voice gave away that something had, in fact, happened.  That was enough to bring Skye out of her funk, at least for a little bit.  Skye leaned forward, “So what’s going on in Fitz-land?”

 

The boy’s attention had turned back to his phone, so all she got in response was a questioning hum. When he finally raised his head, his ears went red because of the smug grin Skye was wearing. “Nothing.  Nothing is going on.”

 

“Then who are you texting?”

 

Ward made a grab for the other boy’s phone, but Fitz pulled it just out of reach. “I am just texting someone I met at the seminar this weekend.”

 

Skye grinned and squinted at him, Ward just gained a smirk.  Ward cupped his chin, “Just someone?  They seem like more than that based on that smile.”

 

Fitz raised his finger as if he was going to teach them a lesson.  “Just because I am happy to have met a like-minded individual, other than Simmons, does not mean what I know you are implying it to mean.”

 

Skye was disappointed, he had a good point, and she slumped against the table.  Ward just leaned back and shrugged, “Alright. But, speaking of Simmons, where has she been these past couple days?”

 

Fitz was looking back at his phone, “She told me she has some project for Mr. Banner’s class she’s working on.”

 

Skye tried to keep her voice even, “It’s big enough that she gets out of every class? And works through lunch?”

 

The only response was a shrug. Ward looked over at her, silently asking if she was okay.  She shot him a short smile, not that he believed it, but it was enough to get him to direct his attention elsewhere for the moment.  “So, Fitz, who his this new friend of yours?”

 

“His name is Peter. He said he’s been at this school for a couple years after moving from New York, so he knows how it is to be the new kid.”

 

Ward leaned onto the table and faced Fitz next to him.  “Parker? That’s your new friend?”

 

Fitz looked up at him, “Yeah. Why?”

 

Ward shrugged his shoulders, “Frankly, I forgot he was the science type.  I always see him with that camera.”

 

The conversation quickly ended when Fitz’s phone chirped and his attention was torn away. Skye and Ward just exchanged quick glances before returning to their food.  By the time they had all finished, lunch was only about half over. Skye huffed and laid her head down on the table.  She suddenly had an idea, and she jerked into a straight up position.  Ward was shocked out of whatever state he had been in by the movement, but Fitz was still attached to his phone and barely reacted.  “What’s up, shorty?”

 

Skye stood up and looked toward the door, “I, uh, have to go to the bathroom.”

 

Fitz just wrinkled his nose and muttered something about not needing to know.  Ward, on the other hand, shot her a pointed and questioning glare. He seemed to know something was up, but she just tried to smile and dismiss him.  Skye separated herself from the table and, as quickly as she could without attracting too much of Ward’s attention, walked through the door leading out of the cafeteria.

 

Once she had made it out to the hallway, Skye headed towards the part of the building she knew the science classrooms were in.  Her heart was racing as she rushed through the school, but she found her way to the room where Mr. Banner spent his days.   She peeked into the window of the door only to see an empty room.  With the confusion setting in, she turned to leave, and ran directly into Mr. Banner’s chest. “Oh, um, sorry. Sorry.”  Skye looked up and realized who it was she was talking to, “Oh, Mr. Banner.  Sorry.”

 

“Gain a sudden interest in chemistry, did you?”

 

“Huh?” Skye’s confusion did not lighten at all.

 

Mr. Banner just smirked and nodded his head toward the door.  Skye blushed as she realized what he meant, but he ignored it and continued on. “You seemed pretty intent on getting in my room, so I can only assume you were looking for a chemistry set. Since that’s the only thing in there.”

 

Skye stumbled to get a response out, “I actually was—I had something I had to talk to Simmons about and I heard she was here.”

 

The other girl’s last name felt foreign coming from her lips.  It had been so long since she had called her Simmons and not Jemma that it just felt wrong.  Skye shook the thought from her head as Mr. Banner spoke up again.  “She’s been in here for a good part of this week, but she went to go get lunch.  I’m surprised you didn’t see her, seeing as this is your lunch period as well.”

 

“She never showed up. Normally she sits with me, Fitz, and Ward, but she hasn’t been there all week.”

 

Banner ran his hand through his hair and sipped from the cup of coffee he had in his other. “She’s gone to lunch every day from here.  Maybe you just missed her.”

 

Skye nodded absentmindedly, “Maybe…”

 

Mr. Banner patted her on the shoulder before unlocking his door and leaving her in the hallway alone. She slowly wandered back in the direction of the lunchroom.  Outside the cafeteria she decided to turn into the bathroom.  Her mind was a million miles away as she tried to pull one of the stall doors open and nearly fell over when it didn’t move.  Skye shrieked as she regained her balance, causing the girl on the other side to hit something against the stall wall.

 

Skye rushed an apology and, hearing a mumbled acknowledgement, jumped into the next stall. She slammed and locked the door behind her.  As she tried to take a deep breath the stall next to her began to emit noise.  It seemed the girl next to her was receiving a text. _Wait a minute._   Skye jerked her head as if she could see through the wall if she tried hard enough. The sound coming from the next stall was a familiar tone.  The _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ theme.  “Jemma?”

 

There was the sound of quick shuffling in the stall next door, followed by the door swinging open. Skye rushed to open hers and fell out of the stall just as Jemma was reaching for the door.  “What the Hell, Simmons?”

 

The slight twinge of anger in Skye’s voice made Jemma flinch and stop her movement. She tightened the straps of her backpack around her shoulders and turned around, keeping her eyes on the floor. “Hello, Skye.”

 

Jemma’s voice wasn’t any more than a whisper.  Skye tried her hardest not to let that get to her.  “It’s nice to see you, buddy.”  There was a good amount of spite thrown into that last word.  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”

 

Simmons bit her lip and then moved to speak.  Just as she opened her mouth, the bell rang, signaling the students’ need to get to their next class. “I’m sorry, Skye. I have to go.”

 

Jemma stumbled on her way out of the bathroom almost as much as she had stumbled over her earlier words. Skye stood in a stunned silence for a moment.  The only thought she had was that she now had the perfect example of the phrase “saved by the bell”. She shook her head and rushed back to the cafeteria to get her bag.

 

Skye couldn’t tell anyone what happened for the rest of the school day, had they asked. Her mind was never on whatever was going on in class.  The empty seat next to her in Mr. Stark’s class and the locker next to hers in the gym that never opened were distracting her.  Even in Mr. Rogers’ class, where there was no empty space to catch her attention, Skye’s mind wandered to Jemma and what could possibly be going on. The blank look in her eyes was not lost on Ward when they walked to his car after football practice that day. “Alright, Skye. What’s on your mind?”

 

Skye blinked after hearing his voice, pulling her back into reality.  “What?  Nothing.”

 

Ward sighed and hung his head, “I’ll give you one more chance before I start guessing.”

 

“It’s nothing. Seriously, Ward.”

 

He clicked his tongue at her, “I bet I can get it in one.  You’re thinking about Simmons.”

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

“Well for one, I can read you like a book.  Always could.”

 

Skye rolled her eyes at him. By that time they had reached the car and climbed in.  Ward locked the doors and leaned back into the seat.  “We’re not going to move until you’re satisfied, are we?”

 

Ward grinned at her, “Nope.”

 

Skye threw her head against her seat’s headrest and groaned.  “Fine. I was thinking about Simmons.”

 

The name was still laced with the poison that Skye had used earlier when saying it to the girl herself. Ward put his hand on her arm and tried to silently comfort her.  She shrugged it off and leaned against the window.  “You haven’t used her last name in a while.  What’s going on?”

 

“She’s avoiding me. Ever since Homecoming. She hasn’t answered a text, hasn’t shown up for either of the classes we have together, she’s even not coming to the lunchroom.”

 

“She wasn’t in Banner’s room when you went over there today?”

 

“How’d you know about that?”

 

“I know you, Skye.” Ward stated like it was obvious, “I knew as soon as you heard that she was working with him on something, you’d go try and track her down.  So, did you?”

 

“Mr. Banner said she’s been leaving his room for lunch every day.  Then after I went there, I stopped in the bathroom and she was in there.”

 

“And?”

 

“She tried to hide in the stall until I left, without me knowing.  Then her phone went off and she tried to run away from me.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, I stopped her right before she got away, but then the bell rang and she ran off.”

 

Ward hummed a response and twisted the key in the ignition.  As they moved out onto the road, both were silent.  Skye sat up and punched the door of the car. “Hey!  Don’t hurt my car, it hasn’t done anything wrong.”

 

“I thought it went well! I thought I had a chance now! Homecoming went so well!” Skye stopped screaming and swallowed down the tears that were threatening her eyes, “I thought it did, at least. I guess I did something wrong.”

 

“Skye. I’m sure this isn’t your fault. I’m sure—“

 

“You’re sure of what? That this’ll all blow over? It’ll be back to normal in no time; I just have to wait it out?  No. There’s something up here. Obviously I did something. She probably figured out I liked her and ran away.  I knew this was stupid.”

 

By the time Skye had finished her rant, Ward had pulled his car into Coulson’s driveway. Skye didn’t wait for a response from Ward after her outburst.  She gathered her bag and rushed to the house.  Ward called for her from the car, but Skye just threw the door open and slammed it behind her.

 

Once in the house, Skye ran up to her room.  She threw her bag across the room and flung herself face down into the bed.  All her effort went into stopping herself from crying. _Don’t be stupid.  There’s no use in crying.  It never actually gets you anything._   She laid like that, with her arms wrapped around her pillow, until her phone vibrated against her leg.

 

Skye pulled the phone out of her pocket and saw Ward’s name flash on the screen.  She tossed the device onto the floor and resumed her former position.  The silence enveloped her and started to drive her crazy.  After five minutes of the only noise being her ragged breath, she reached down and grabbed the phone.

 

**Ward:** I’m sure she feels the same as you but she’s scared. You had time to process it, maybe she hasn’t yet.  Don’t give up hope Shortcake.

 

Skye hated that nickname. She hated everything about that message. It gave her a little bit of hope, but that’s what she’d had before Homecoming.  Ward was not helping her situation.  All Skye wanted was to get Simmons alone and get her to explain all of this.

 

Anger was bubbling up in Skye. Her fists clenched into the pillow and she threw herself back against the bed as she launched it across the room. The soft noise that it made as it hit the wall was enough to bring her eyes to that spot.  Next to the pillow was the open closet door, and inside that Skye could see her Homecoming dress hanging.  All of the anger that she had built up exploded out.  Skye turned to the pillow that remained on her bed and began flinging her fists at it.  Grunting with each punch, she punished the cushion.  “You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep that up.”

 

The shock of hearing the other voice tore Skye out of her rage.  Panting, she turned to the owner of the voice. Ms. May was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, giving Skye the same look as when she was sent to the office for disrupting class.  Skye’s voice was nearly a growl when she spoke, “It’s just a pillow.  It can’t hurt me that bad.”

 

May’s face fell from the almost-angry mask to a look that conveyed an eye roll without her having to put out the effort to actually do so.  “It’s not the pillow that’s going to hurt you.  It’s your form.  If you keep swinging like that, you’re going to injure your wrist.”

 

Skye tried to ignore the ache that was suddenly cutting its way across her forearms. “What are you even doing here?”

 

“Coulson invited me.”

 

“Then what are you doing in my room?”

 

“I heard your tantrum.”

 

Skye clenched her jaw and hands, her breathing ragged, and looked down at the dents in the pillow she had made.  “So what? You came up here to tell me to be quiet so you can enjoy your date?”

 

“It’s just me and you here. Coulson’s not even home.”

 

“Then how’d you get in?”

 

“I know where he hides the spare key.”

 

Coulson had shown Skye that particular hiding place.  The man had a model of a big plane with some kind of eagle on the top that had an openable door in the back.  He hid the key in the compartment there.  The plane was glued down to the bannister next to the door.

 

Skye looked back up at the woman.  She had not moved from the doorway since they had started talking.  In fact, Skye was pretty sure she hadn’t moved a muscle. “So are you just going to stand there and stare?  Since we aren’t in school, you can’t really do anything.”

 

“I was considering showing you how to throw a real punch.”

 

Skye started to grind her teeth together, “I don’t need your help.”

 

The woman didn’t respond, so after a few seconds Skye looked up to see why; only to find the doorway empty. May had disappeared silently. Skye shook her head and flopped back onto the bed.  Her eyes traced imaginary patterns on the ceiling as she tried to clear her head.  She was still fuming and her knuckles were white from how tight she was clenching the blanket underneath her.  Eventually, Coulson showed up at her door.  “Hey, Skye.  Are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

The pause that followed showed that Coulson didn’t believe her.  “You want to talk?”

 

“No.”

 

“Alright.” Coulson sighed, “Ms. May and I are going out.  Call me if you need anything, you know the rules for being here by yourself.”

 

“Have fun.” She deadpanned, ending the discussion.

 

Skye kept her eyes on the ceiling for the entire conversation.  The only way she knew he had left was by the sound of his shoes on the stairs. Once she heard his car leave the driveway, her assault on the pillow began anew.   The flurry of punches was joined by an escaped scream that came out closer to a growl.  After what felt like a hundred more punches Skye screamed again; this one because she felt her wrist bend at the contact against her target. Cursing May under her breath, Skye made her way down the stairs.

 

She held her wrist in her opposite hand while she moved through the house and continually spat curses at whomever she could think of.  Skye reached the kitchen and stomped over to the freezer.  Opening it up she was met with a sight that made her even angrier. Sitting on a shelf was an icepack with a post-it note on the front with two words on it: “told you”.

 

That handwriting had been on enough school notices that Skye knew Ms. May had written the note. If her wrist didn’t hurt as much as it did, Skye would have ignored the icepack entirely.  As it stood, she tore it from its place a put it against her arm, hissing as the cold hit her.  She headed toward the living room, only to be stopped by the sight of another post-it note; this one on the microwave.  Stepping closer to read it, Skye saw that it said “it always helps me” in Coulson’s handwriting.  She pressed the button to open the microwave and saw a mug with what smelled like cocoa in it.  Considering it, Skye shook her head and shut the microwave door, returning back onto her original path.

 

Skye walked into the living room and flopped down onto the couch.  The wrist in pain ended up across her chest, with the icepack laying on top of it, and her other arm was draped over her eyes.  She wasn’t even angry or sad anymore.  At this point, Skye was just tired.  It was only a matter of minutes before she faded into sleep.

 

Skye’s peaceful dream of running with Ward in his family’s backyard was shaken up, quite literally and suddenly. The earth beneath her feet trembled and both her and Ward fell to the ground.  Ward landed face first, leaving blood gushing from his nose, and Skye fell back and bounced off the grass.  Solid ground was a lot softer than she first assumed it would be; as it continued to shake, Skye bounced up and down against it.  A voice sounded out, pulling Skye out of her now upsetting dream. “Skye, wake up.”

 

Skye’s eyes faded open and her senses recovered enough to recognize Coulson’s face above her own, a light touch on her shoulder, and a very cold and damp feeling on her stomach. She groaned and looked around while sitting up.  Coulson smiled at her and took the now melted icepack from her.  “What time is it?”

 

“It’s almost ten.”

 

Skye, still groggy, blinked rapidly before responding.  “Home so early. Date not go well?”

 

“My date went fine, thank you. But you need to get to bed. You seem worn out.”

 

Skye just nodded and stood up. She shuffled off up to her room and fell onto her bed.  Reaching down, she pulled her phone from the floor, where it had landed in her earlier fit. The screen lit up to reveal a single message.  Unlocking the phone, she saw Ward’s name.

 

**Ward:** Keep your head up kid.  You’ll be good.

 

A picture of Grant giving her a thumbs up and a goofy smile accompanied the message. Skye allowed her lips to twitch into something resembling a small smile before setting her alarm and throwing the phone next to her bed.  She was quickly slipping back into sleep lying there on top of the covers in her room.

 

The next day came much too quickly for Skye’s liking.  The ride to school was quiet, and Ward just stood next to her, with a hand on her back, when she was at her locker.  It was during that time that the pair heard a familiar laugh.  Turning their heads, Ward and Skye saw Fitz approaching with a tall, poofy-haired guy.  “Hello Ward. Hello Skye.”

 

Ward removed his hand from Skye and stuck it out to shake.  “Hey Fitz. Hey Parker, long time.”

 

Parker stuck his hand out and shook Ward’s, “Yeah Ward.  It seems we don’t really run in the same circles.”

 

Ward laughed, “It seems like that may change now.”

 

Parker shrugged and laughed along with him.  Fitz, grinning, stepped up next to Parker, “Peter here was just telling me that his friend is moving here from New York, so I guess I won’t be the new kid anymore.”

 

Ward tilted his head, “Your friend is moving into the school?”

 

Peter checked his phone, “Yeah, she should actually be coming soon.  She never told me for sure.”

 

Fitz pulled his phone out and checked the time, “Well, we should all get going. We have to be in class in a minute.”

 

The group all went their separate ways, Ward leaving Skye with a hug and a kiss to the crown of the head. Skye went to her class and went through the motions of paying attention.  The day dragged on and on, with no signs of looking up for her. She stumbled along through the day and eventually made it to the lunchroom.

 

Skye was the first to make it to the table and she pushed the tray away from her and laid her head on the surface in front of her.  She sat, silently breathing, for a few minutes before anyone else arrived. The clatter of a tray directly in front of her brought Skye’s attention back to reality.  Her head rose only enough to peek and see that Ward had sat down across from her.  “So, shorty, you hanging in there?”

 

A grunt was the only response he was going to get.  Ward reached across and ruffled Skye’s hair and she tried to smack his hand away. His reflexes were too fast however, and she ended up smacking herself in the back of the head.  Ward laughed at her, “Will you ever not fall for that?”

 

Skye didn’t even grunt this time.  Her right hand was still over her head, so a finger lifting was what he got in return. She heard Ward chomp on the cardboard pizza the school served and figured she might actually get some peace and quiet. That idea was shot down when she heard a Scottish brogue continuously get louder as its owner approached.

 

The sound of two bodies landing on chairs caused Skye to clench her teeth.  She raised her head to see that Parker had joined them for the day, and Skye had to hold back a sneer at the fact that he was now sitting where Simmons normally resided.  Peter offered a wave at her and Ward as he sat, Fitz continuing to babble on about something Skye couldn’t even begin to understand.

 

The conversation that followed left Ward and Skye with confused looks on their faces and their jaws hanging loosely.  Parker may spend a lot of time just wandering and taking pictures, but the guy knew what he was talking about when it came to electronics.  He was keeping up with Fitz almost as well as Simmons usually did. When the two of them seemed to come to a conclusion, Skye and Ward couldn’t tell for sure, the conversation lulled and Ward took advantage.  “So you two, how’s your days been?”

 

Fitz nodded with a smile, “Not bad.”

 

Peter shrugged, “It’s been pretty good.”

 

A voice came from behind Skye’s head following a short laugh, “Well it’s about to get a lot better, Web-Head.”

 

Peter spun so quickly he almost fell out of his chair, and Skye followed his eyes. Behind her was a tall, dark-skinned girl, with her dark brown hair in a long ponytail.  Her matching brown eyes shown brightly as she had her eyebrows raise and put her hands on her hips.  “Be careful there Parker, you might hurt yourself.”

 

Peter jumped up and hugged the girl, “Ava!  Why didn’t you tell me you were already here?”

 

The girl, Ava, chuckled as she hugged him back, “Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. It seems to have worked.”

 

Skye swallowed, suddenly aware that she had been eyeing Ava’s figure, which Skye could describe as utterly fantastic, and turned away to see Ward smirking at her. She raised her eyebrows at him as a way of telling him to shut up.  Ward just nodded and mouthed the word “dibs” at her before returning his attention to the new arrival.  “So, Parker, why don’t you introduce your friend here?”

 

Peter finally removed himself from his friend’s arms, “Oh, of course.  Everybody this is Ava Ayala.  We used to hang out all the time back in New York.”

 

“Thanks Petey, makes me sound really interesting.”

 

Ward laughed at her, “Welcome to California and welcome to Stan Lee.  I’m Ward.”

 

“Interesting name.”

 

“Last name.”

 

“Gotcha.”

 

Ward pointed across the table, “This here is Skye.  You’ll have to excuse her today, not feeling top shape.”

 

“Shut up Grant.” Skye glared in his direction then looked up at Ava, “Nice to meet you, Ava.”

 

Ava seemed entertained by the exchange, biting her lip to try and stop from laughing, “Nice to meet you too.”

 

Peter returned to his seat and grabbed Ava’s arm and pulled her into the seat next to him. “And last, but not least, this is Fitz.”

 

Fitz sat up straighter and stuck his hand out, “It’s nice to meet you.”

 

Ava shook his hand, “Oh, Scottish.  Your accent is so cool.”

 

The tips of Fitz’s ears got noticeably red, but he suddenly looked a little smug. “Why thank you.”

 

Peter and Ava started to catch up some, and the other three at the table had the sense to leave them alone for it.  Skye started picking at the food on her tray.  She could feel the looks Ward was shooting her and eventually she looked up.  “You alright?”

 

Skye dropped her hands to the table, “I’m fine Ward.”

 

Fitz leaned in their direction, “Are you sure Skye?  You seem a little off today.”

 

The concern in the Scot’s voice was evident.  Skye appreciated the concern, but she just wasn’t in the mood.  “I’m fine.  Really. Thanks though.”

 

Fitz just nodded and turned to Peter and Ava’s conversation, as they had changed subjects. Even in the relatively short time they had been friends, Fitz had figured out that Ward and Skye were a lot like him and Simmons in the fact that there were just some things only the other could get out of them.  Fitz would be amazed at how fast Ward went to work on pulling answers from Skye, however. Before Fitz was even facing the other two, Ward was working on reading Skye’s mind.  Whispering, he leaned across the table, “Why don’t you just ask, Skye?”

 

“Ask what?”

 

“Where she is.”

 

“You did that yesterday, genius.”

 

“Why don’t you text her?”

 

“Tried that. Didn’t work.  Now quit bothering me.”

 

With that, Skye turned towards Parker, effectively blocking out Ward.  He turned in the direction of the only remaining conversation, rolling his eyes.  Peter was waving his hands around while speaking.  “That was not my fault!  Luke put the test tubes in the wrong places!”

 

Ava laughed at him, “Yeah, and because you didn’t check the meathead’s work, you almost blew us all up.”

 

“See, this is why I like working with you or Danny.  You know what you’re doing, and Danny is meticulous.”

 

“I agree. But as long as I never have to work with Sam.  The dude’s a wicked soccer player, but he’s not much help in a lab.”

 

Ward leaned forward, “sounds like you had a good group of people back in New York.”

 

Ava nodded, “Yeah. We were the ultimate crew. Star soccer player, best linebacker on the football team, a black belt, this idiot,” she pointed to Peter and then to herself, “and of course an awesome gymnast.”

 

“That’s cool. It’s always been just mostly me and Skye here, sometimes some of the guys on the football team join us, though Fitz and Simmons worked their way in.”

 

“Simmons?” Ava asked, looking over to Fitz.

 

Fitz responded quickly, “Oh yeah.  Simmons is my best friend. We moved here a short time back.”

 

Ward nodded, “Yeah. So where is Simmons today? Still working with Banner?”

 

Fitz frowned at him and then his features softened quickly when he seemed to realize something. “Oh, she didn’t tell you? She went back to England.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had life get in the way, then the worst writer's block. Either way, I hope you enjoyed! Next one will be coming much faster, I promise!


	10. 'Cause I'm Broken When I'm Lonesome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods above this took forever. I'm so, so, so sorry. Life got in the way of writing. Hopefully you enjoy it anyway!

There seemed to be a bubble around the table, because no sound from the rest of the cafeteria reached their ears.  All five of the teenagers at the table were silent as the grave.  Peter and Ava, who had no clue about this situation, seemed to sense the immediate tension and decided to keep quiet.  Ward’s eyebrows nearly reached his hairline, and Skye was gaping like a fish.  Fitz looked between the two with slight panic behind his eyes.  That panic escalated to full blown fear when Skye found her voice, and raised it against him.  “She did what?”

 

Fitz stumbled for his words, “She said that she told you guys.  She went back to England.  Her flight was last night.”

 

Ward rubbed his hand across his face, like he was trying to wipe the shock away. Skye was still trying to process exactly what it was that Fitz had just said.  Another heavy silence hung over the table for a few more seconds before Ward spoke up, “Did she say why she went back?”

 

Fitz took a gulp from his carton of milk before speaking.  He seemed to be trying to catch his breath.  “She,” Fitz coughed and started again, “her grandmother turns seventy-five today. She went back to help celebrate.”

 

Ward let out an audible sigh upon hearing that.  Skye was still tensed, but much less so now.  Peter and Ava spared a side eye glance at each other and let go of the breaths that they had both been holding.  Skye’s hands were clenched to the point that her knuckles were white.  Her breaths were heavy and she had shut her eyes tightly. Ward put a hand on her leg and directed his attention back to Fitz, “Did she say when she was coming back?”

 

Fitz took another deep breath and nodded, “She said she should be back on Saturday.”

 

The bell echoed through the cafeteria and Skye spun, barely grabbing her bag as she took off towards the door.  Blinking rapidly, Skye pushed the sting of salt back into her eyes.  It wasn’t until she reached her classroom that she stopped to breathe. A few deep breaths and she moved into the room, hoping that she didn’t appear as frazzled as she felt.

 

Mr. Stark was sitting at his desk and announced that there was a worksheet type project waiting on their computers to complete for the day.  Most of the class groaned, but Skye just silently shifted forward in her seat and got to work.  She was glad to have the distraction, but it only lasted for about twenty minutes. Being as good as she was with computers, Skye finished the work in half the time as every one else. When she was done, she just wrapped her head in her arms and put it on the table in front of her. She could only take a couple more deep breaths before she felt a tap on her shoulder.

 

Raising her head, Skye saw Mr. Stark looking at her.  He took a couple steps away from her and waved his hand to signal her to follow him. She huffed as she stood and let him lead her into the hallway.  Once Skye got outside the room, Stark turned and shut the door before leaning against it. He looked at her over his glasses, and then took a drink of his coffee before speaking.  “Alright, Skye.  You normally don’t talk much in class, except with Miss Simmons when you won’t shut up, but you are extra quiet today.  I do kind of miss having to deal with your incessant sighing out of boredom.”

 

Skye just raised her eyebrows and silently questioned his point in the conversation. Stark got the message and nodded at her, opening his mouth to speak.  His phone playing “Danger Zone” cut him off and he held up a finger for her to wait. Reaching into his pocket, Stark pulled out the smartphone out and silenced it.  Shrugging his shoulders, he explained, “It’s the theme from _Top Gun_.  My buddy Rhodey is a flyboy.  I thought it was funny, he didn’t.  He’s a bit of a stickler though.  This one time, a few years before I started working here, me and him went to this party and I tried to get him to jump off the roof into the pool with me. Well, he said no and started whining. I told him ‘you spend all your time in the sky and you’re scared of a two story drop?’  Eventually I just dragged him up there and pulled him off the roof when I jumped.  After that, well, legally I don’t think I should tell you what happened after that.”

 

Skye rolled her eyes and held back a grin.  She tried to keep the fondness out of her voice when she spoke up, “Is there a reason you pulled me out here?”

 

Stark tapped his temple like he remembered something, “Right.  What’s got you all down and gloomy?  Whatever it is, it needs to stop.  I will not have you killing the mood in my classroom.  If I want to play my music and dance around the room, I will not be interrupted by your bad mood.”

 

Skye just shook her head, “Just tired is all.”

 

Mr. Stark nodded and pressed his lips together.  “Yeah, used that line a few times myself.”  He took another sip of his coffee before he continued, “Take a lap.”

 

“What?”

 

“Take a lap. A long trip around the halls will do you some good.  So take a lap. I know you have to come back, all your stuff is in here.”

 

Stark opened the door and stepped in front of Skye before she could move into the doorway. He shook his head and pointed down the hall.  Skye reached for the handle before it could shut, but got there half a second too late. She groaned and leaned against the door. Sliding down the door, she put her head in her hands.

 

Less than a minute after she sat down, Skye heard the tell tale sharp click of high heels echoing across the hall.  They kept getting closer and stopped what sounded like right in front of her. Looking up, Skye saw long legs in a green pencil skirt.  “Did he kick you out of class?”

 

Skye looked back down and shook her head, “No.  Told me to take a lap.”

 

The woman standing above her hummed, “So I guess he does actually listen to me sometimes.”

 

Skye actually looked up at the woman in front of her for the first time.  The woman held an air of confidence and power in her gaze. Her bright red hair was pulled into a bun, with a couple strands hanging around her face, and she had a single eyebrow raised.  Skye swallowed, “Miss Potts.  I didn’t know you’d be here today.”

 

“Tony forgot his wallet at home.  I have no idea how he manages it.  If his head wasn’t attached to his shoulders, right.”  Pepper rolled her eyes, “So why did he send you on a lap?”

 

Skye choked out a small laugh, “Apparently I was killing the mood in his room.”

 

Pepper nodded at her, “Well then you should start walking, you don’t want to have to rush back after the bell rings.”

 

Skye was stunned, to say the least, but stood up and took a couple steps down the hall. Before she could get too far, however, Pepper spoke up again.  “And when you get back, if you are still killing Mr. Stark’s mood, I’d be willing to sit and listen.”

 

Without giving Skye a chance to respond, the older woman had opened the classroom door and disappeared inside. Skye couldn’t do anything other than shake her head and start walking.  She wandered the halls for a while, just looking at the pictures of old graduating classes and glancing into random classrooms.  At one point, she stopped and took a closer look at one of the faces in the photograph on the wall.  As she leaned into the picture, she felt something lightly hit her in the back. Looking around, Skye saw a paper airplane on the ground.  She picked it up and looked around.  Seeing the open door to the classroom across the hall, she looked in.  Inside the room was one Antoine Triplett, pointedly looking everywhere except at Skye.  When he finally looked out the door again, he faked surprise and grinned at her with a wink. Skye couldn’t help but laugh at him. She waved her fingers at him as she walked away with a smile.

 

Skye was already in the hall of Mr. Stark’s room when the bell rang.  She had to fight through the current of students to get back into the classroom and grab her stuff.  Her bag was sitting next to the desk, packed up and ready to go when she reentered. Stark looked up from his computer when she walked in and raised his eyebrow at her, “Better now?”

 

Skye faked a sigh, “I guess, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Good. Next time you come into my classroom like that, I’m writing you up.”  He looked down and muttered more to himself than to Skye, “I wonder if the administration would accept ‘throwing off my groove’ as a reason to do that.”

 

Skye laughed as she grabbed her bag, “See you later Mr. Stark.”

 

Stark threw up the peace sign as he drank his coffee.  Skye walked out the door and continued to her next class.  She was in a slightly better mood than before, Mr. Stark tended to have either that effect on people or the exact opposite, as she walked into Mr. Rogers classroom.  Her history class was uneventful, especially compared to the previous class period. Once that was over, however, the day continued on the path of its originally scheduled programming.

 

Skye hadn’t taken more than three steps out of Mr. Rogers’ classroom before it hit her as to where she had to go next.  She froze in the middle of the hallway, almost causing a pile up.  Quickly, Skye took off towards her locker and grabbed what she needed before running out of the school building.  Before she knew it, she was sitting under the bleachers of the football field. Instead of pulling out her laptop, as she normally does, Skye just leaned her head back against the supports and tried to breathe deeply.  It wasn’t much longer before she dozed off.

 

Skye was woken up when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and shook it.  She started and rushed to her feet. Shaking off the hand on her shoulder, Skye looked to its owner.  Ward was standing next to her, his arm still half raised, with a sympathetic smile on his face. He bent down and picked up her backpack before silently walking towards the parking lot.

 

Without a single word, the two made their way over to Ward’s car and climbed in.  It wasn’t until the car pulled out onto the road that Skye spoke up, “Aren’t you mad at me?”

 

Ward glanced towards her for a split second, “What for?”

 

“Skipping class.”

 

Ward shrugged and looked over at Skye again, “No.  You had a rough day; I’m not going to get on you about it.  Plus, you went to all of them but what, one or two?”

 

Skye rubbed her eyes hard, until she was seeing constellations behind her eyelids, and then groaned. “Why?”

 

“What do you mean, why?”

 

“Why am I having a bad day? I shouldn’t be.”

 

“Well, the girl you’re into, who also happens to be your second best friend—behind me of course—just up and left without any warning whatsoever after avoiding you for a half a week. I’d say that’s reason enough to be upset.”

 

Skye screamed into her hands, causing Ward to jump and jerk the wheel, “I shouldn’t be like this!”

 

“Jesus, Skye. First of all, are you trying to make me wreck?  Or give me a heart attack? Secondly, why not? I think you deserve to be upset.”

 

“Maybe a little, but I’ve known this girl for like a month.  I shouldn’t shut down because she leaves.  It just doesn’t make sense.  This is why I don’t get attached.”

 

Ward slammed the brakes on his car, thankfully no one was behind him, and pulled off to the side of the road. Skye still had her head down in her hands, not even looking up once the car stopped.  The tips of her fingers were rubbing her temples as she tried to take deep breaths, shuddering as she did.  Ward slammed the car into park and turned towards Skye. “Alright, Skye. I get that you have had a rough go of things; you know I do, but you can’t keep this whole loner thing going. We both know you’re smart and caring and friendly, so why can’t you act like it?”

 

“You know why, Ward.”

 

Skye’s voice was forced through clenched jaws, so much so that it could barely be heard. Her breathing was getting heavier and heavier.  Ward rubbed his eyes and clenched his fists, “And you know that that’s not a legit reason anymore.”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

Ward slammed his hands against the steering wheel, causing Skye to nearly jump out of her skin. “Dammit Skye!  I’ve been telling you for years that you aren’t that little girl who can’t do anything right, like you think you are; but damn if you aren’t starting to change my mind!”

 

A deathly silence passed over the car.  Neither teenager was breathing as Skye looked down at her feet and Ward stared at the side of her head, both of their jaws hanging loosely at the words that had just broken through the air.  Skye finally moved, grabbing her bag from the floorboards and unlocking the car door. “Skye.  You know I didn’t mean that.”

 

Skye was halfway out the door as she turned and glared at him.  The fire in her eyes was not dulled any by the wet stains tracking down her cheeks, in fact they seemed to fuel it more.  “Like Hell you didn’t!  You know, I had actually stopped thinking I was your little charity case, but thanks for reminding me where I really stand.”

 

She grabbed the door and slammed it as hard as she could.  Ward immediately rolled the windows down and called out to her, “Skye! I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean it!  Just get back in the car!”

 

Skye just kept walking with her head down.  She refused to answer him.  The fear of her voice cracking so that he could hear the tears he caused was too much. Her backpack was pulling so tight against her shoulders she thought it might leave marks, her hands wrapped tightly around the straps.  Ward’s voice rang out again, “Are you going to walk all the way home?”

 

She snapped her head back in the direction of his voice, “Well I’m not getting back in your damn car!”

 

Skye whipped back around and stomped through the grass on the side of the road in the direction of Coulson’s house.  She heard Ward’s car’s engine rev up behind her and waited for him to pass.   The silver car never passed her though; the engine never roared, only quietly purred behind her. Chancing a glance back, Skye saw that Ward had turned his hazard lights on and was slowly following her. Skye groaned to the sky and turned back around.  “What the Hell Ward? I told you I’m not getting back in the car!”

 

Ward leaned his head out of the window; “Well I’m not leaving you on the side of the road!”

 

This game continued until they moved to pass a house and someone came sprinting out of the front door, “Skye!”

 

Skye looked up and saw Triplett jogging towards her.  “Hey Tripp.”

 

The young man stopped next to her with his trademark megawatt smile, “What are you doing walking? I see Ward’s right here.”

 

Skye stumbled over her thoughts for a moment, trying to find a way to state her feelings without sounding petty.  Finally, she just sighed and shrugged, “I’m mad at him, he said some stuff.”

 

Tripp’s smile faltered for a moment before it was as bright as ever and he was back to talking. “Why don’t I drive you home? That way, you don’t have to walk, and you don’t have to get in the car with tall, pale, and grumpy back there.”

 

He nodded his head and waved at Ward as he said this, making Skye break into a smile for the first time in hours.  “Sure. Have I ever told you that you are a gift, Antoine?”

 

Tripp laughed as he walked back towards his car, “I’ve never heard it from you, but one more person saying it can’t hurt.”

 

The bright green Corvette’s lights flashed as Tripp unlocked it and dropped into the driver’s seat. Skye carefully opened the passenger door and fell into the seat.  “How did you afford this thing?”

 

Tripp laughed, not nearly as heartily as before however, “My gramps was a big deal in the ‘40’s. Did some stuff for the military during World War II, apparently he did a pretty good job, since they’re still sending us presents.”

 

“Wow. What did he do?”

 

“That’s classified information.”  Skye laughed at Tripp’s statement and he glanced over at her as he backed out onto the road, “No seriously, I don’t know.  The army keeps it under lock and key.”

 

“Whoa. That’s pretty intense.”

 

Tripp grinned over at her, “You want to see intense?”

 

Skye just raised a challenging eyebrow at him.  Triplett sped up and was quickly right behind Ward’s Mustang.  He switched over to the left lane, next to Ward, and pulled alongside him, rolling down Skye’s window.  Ward looked over and Tripp just winked at him before slamming the gas pedal down.

 

Skye was pulled back into the leather seat as the speedometer flicked farther and farther up the scale. It felt like her chest was being pressed down on as she watched the trees and houses fly by the window. Once Ward was out of sight in the rearview mirror, Tripp slowed down, laughing the entire time. When she felt like she could breathe again, Skye started laughing with him.  “You said you wanted intense, girl.”

 

“That was nuts.” Skye forced out, still trying to catch her breath.

 

Tripp shook his head, “This car is pretty wild.”

 

Skye settled into the seat and listened to the car for a few minutes, just letting herself relax. Triplett started humming in the driver’s seat, and Skye couldn’t help but laugh at him.  “Really, Antoine?  ‘Sledgehammer’?”

 

“Don’t you laugh at me. Just because you have your angry teenage angst, My Chemical Romance, thing going on, doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy those girls’ music.  Plus, it’s catchy and has a beat; and girl you know I like to dance.”

 

He started wiggling in the seat and singing, doing what could probably be described as dancing. Skye laughed at him, glad she had ended up walking past his house.  This was the best she had felt all day.  He stopped releasing the song in his head and looked over to her, “So where do you live anyway?”

 

Triplett eventually got her back to Coulson’s house, and she thanked him as he dropped her off in the driveway.  She stepped onto the porch and into the house, immediately heading towards the kitchen. When she got there, Skye was shocked to see Coulson sitting in there with his laptop.  He looked up at her over his glasses when she walked in. “You’re home later than usual.”

 

“Tripp gave me a ride home and he took a wrong turn.”

 

Technically it wasn’t a lie. Both of those were true statements, but it wasn’t like she was going to tell him that she jumped out of Ward’s car onto the side of the road with the intent of walking the entire way back. Coulson nodded before looking back down to his laptop.  He spoke again without looking up, asking a question Skye really wished he hadn’t, “Why didn’t Grant drive you back?”

 

“We had a fight.”

 

Coulson immediately looked up, “Anything serious?”

 

_Yes._ “No.  It’ll blow over soon, I’m sure.  You know how it is.”

 

Coulson nodded again as he raised his eyebrows at her.  “Dinner will be ready in about an hour and a half.”

 

Skye made an affirmative noise and ran up to her room.  She threw her bag onto the floor and fell face first on the bed.  A couple deep breaths later and she rolled over and pushed her hair out of her face.  Her hand reached into a pocket and, after a bit of struggle, pulled her phone out.

 

As she expected, there were a multitude of messages from Ward.  She had 23 unread text messages, 4 missed calls, and 3 voicemails. She quickly got rid of the voicemails, barely listening to them as she did.  They were all variations of Ward saying sorry and trying to explain himself. The text messages were the same. Though only 21 of those texts were from Ward.  Skye had two waiting for her from Fitz.

 

**Fitz:** I’m sorry Skye!  She said she told you!

 

**Fitz:** She’s going to get a good, old time Scottish telling off next time I talk to her.  I promise.

 

Skye couldn’t help but laugh at that.  She texted him back, telling him it was okay and not to bite Simmons’ head off too viciously. Dropping the phone to the bed, Skye had a sudden desire to find the strangest click bait article she could, or maybe one of those stupid online quizzes.  She reached down off the bed, blindly trying to find her backpack, only to come up empty-handed.  With a groan, she raised her head and saw that her bag was much farther from her than she originally thought.  Maybe the distraction brought on by ridiculous Internet pages could wait until after dinner. Though Skye wasn’t sure how hungry she actually was anyway.

 

Either way, Skye went downstairs when Coulson called her down to the kitchen.  They sat at the kitchen table and had a quiet meal, with Coulson focused on something on his laptop and Skye surely not pushing to start a conversation.  Afterwards, Skye thanked him quickly and returned back up the stairs.  She finally got to find all her useless websites, and that kept her mind busy until she felt her eyes drooping.

 

Her dreams alternated that night.  One would hold bright hair and bright eyes; the next would have dark hair and broad shoulders. Skye wasn’t sure which one she hated more. It was outrageous, and led to a fairly restless night.  There wasn’t much comfort in sleep for Skye when her dreams haunted her like that. It seemed like Friday was going to be a long one.

 

Upon waking up, Skye remembered two things that made her groan.  One, she had a test in History today.  Two, she would either have to find a ride in the next half hour, or ride to school with Ward.  Luckily, she could hear Coulson moving around downstairs.  Hopefully she could convince him to drop her off.  Skye got ready for school as quickly as she could remember ever doing before.

 

She rushed down the stairs and almost ran directly into Coulson.  He grabbed her shoulders to steady her and keep her from tumbling across the floor.  Skye got her balance back quickly and shyly grinned up at him.  “What’s got you in such a rush this morning, Skye?”

 

She took a hurried breath and glanced at her shoes, “I was wondering if you could drop me off at school today?”

 

“Grant can’t take you?”

 

Skye didn’t really trust herself to answer, so she just shook her head in response.  Coulson nodded and walked towards the kitchen. He shouted over his shoulder as he left the room, “Be ready to leave in five!”

 

Skye ran back upstairs, where she had stupidly left her backpack, and headed back down to the garage. She jumped into the already running SUV, and Coulson pulled onto the road.  The drive to the high school was fairly quiet.  Coulson turned on an orchestral station on the radio, and Skye didn’t even bother complaining.  When they pulled up to the school building, Skye jumped out and thanked Coulson before quickly shutting the door and walking in.

 

Skye walked with a purpose and kept her head down.  All she wanted was to get through the day without running into Ward and with the least amount of human interaction possible other than that.  With the help of her trusty headphones, she figured that she could succeed with that plan.

 

She didn’t talk to very many people anyway, so avoiding human interaction was pretty easy. The problem was avoiding Ward. He knew her schedule almost as well as she did, so if he wanted to talk to her, he could track her down fairly easily.  Lunch was a simple fix, she could either take her food anywhere other than the cafeteria or just not test it and skip lunch altogether.  The trickiest part, however, would be getting home that afternoon.

 

In the end, Skye decided to grab food and take it to go at lunch.  As she munched in the hallway, she flipped through the day’s headlines on her phone. After a few minutes of staring at the screen, someone kicked Skye’s foot.  She tensed quickly before glancing over her phone.  Seeing bright white running shoes, Skye brought her eyes up the tight jeans and sweatshirt to see the pretty face above it. “Skye, right?”

 

Skye nodded her head, “Ava?”

 

Ava smiled down at her, “That’s me.  Care to tell me why you’re eating out here Skye?”

 

“I’m not speaking to Ward right now, so I don’t want to see him.”

 

Ava nodded and sat down next to Skye.  “Boys, they’re always screwing up and never think they’re wrong.  You just can’t live with them, but you…well no, you can definitely live without them.”

 

Skye laughed at her and shook her head.  “They can just never get it right.”

 

“Yeah, who needs them?”

 

“Well, Ward is usually my ride, so I might need him a little.”

 

“Well, I’m sure you can find someone before the end of the day.  And if not,” Ava pulled a pen out of her bag and grabbed Skye’s hand, “Shoot me a text.”

 

Ava smiled as she let Skye’s hand go and stood up.  As the older girl walked away Skye looked down at her hand and quickly punched the digits into her phone.  Skye ended up sending her a message after she finished her History test.

 

The ride back home was quick, but entertaining all the same.  Ava turned out to be quite the talkative person when she got into a mood. After thanking Ava, and the girl telling her to text her if Ward was ever stupid again and she needed a ride, Skye bounded up to the house and jumped inside.

 

Now the hard part came. Normally at this time, since it was a Friday, she would be getting ready for Ward’s game and waiting for Mrs. Ward to pick her up.  Now she had to think of an excuse to text Mrs. Ward to tell her she wasn’t going to the game. Skye figured homework was a good excuse as any and sent a text saying as much.  About five minutes later, Skye got a text back that said the woman understood and congratulated her on putting her best foot forward when it came to school, along with a promise to let her know how the game went.

 

Now Skye just needed a distraction.  She did have homework to do, but she wasn’t quite in the mood for that kind of trouble at the moment.  Instead, Netflix was calling her name.  Moving into her room and over to the TV, she flipped on the streaming service and searched around. She checked her recently viewed and saw _Doctor Who_ on the list. There was a sudden ache in her chest and she quickly flipped by it, settling on _Parks and Recreation_ , figuring she could use a few laughs.

 

After a few episodes, or more than a few as Skye lost track, she checked her phone. No notifications, but she had been lying on her bed for nearly four hours now.  She figured a few more episodes couldn’t hurt.  As she started the next one, Coulson walked in to her room. “What are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the game?”

 

“I wasn’t really feeling up to it.”

 

“Is this about the fight between you and Ward?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

Skye never took her eyes off the TV, but Coulson nodded anyway.  “The game would have just started if you changed your mind.”

 

“I’m good.”

 

“Alright.” Coulson patted her on the leg before leaving the room.

 

The sounds from the TV were the only sounds in the room for a while; Skye had silenced her phone after some game invite set off a Facebook notification.  She was halfway through her third episode since Coulson’s interruption when she heard his feet hurriedly pounding up the stairs. He got to her door and almost swung himself inside, out of breath.  “Skye. Get your shoes on. Now!”

 

Skye sat up for the first time in hours.  “What’s going on? Where’s the fire?”

 

“Get your shoes on and get to the car.  We’re going to the hospital.”

 

“The hospital?” Skye was shouting as she jumped off the bed and pulled her new shoes on.

 

She tied her shoes and took the stairs as fast as she could.  The SUV was already started when she ran into the garage and climbed in. Before Skye could ask anything, Coulson pushed the pedal down and rushed onto the road.  He glanced over at her, “Apparently something happened at the football game.”

 

Skye paled immediately, “Was it…Ward?”

 

Coulson nodded, “Is your phone dead?”

 

Skye reached into her pocket, no phone.  She slapped herself on the forehead; “I put it on silent and left it in my room.”

 

“Carrie said she tried to call you first.”

 

Skye’s stomach turned, she was letting down the only mother she’d ever known.  She knew it would happen eventually.  Her leg was shaking uncontrollably now.  “Did she say what happened?”

 

“All she said was he got hit pretty hard and didn’t get up, so they sent the trainers out there and they called an ambulance.”

 

The rest of the ride to the hospital was filled with a silent tension.  As soon as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Skye jumped out and ran towards the doors.  Coulson was a few steps behind her, calling her name.  He caught up with her at the reception desk where a shocked looking woman was sitting behind it, staring at the teenage girl and middle-aged man panting in the lobby.  “May I help you?”

 

Coulson caught his breath and was able to speak first, “There was a boy just brought in not too long ago, a good friend of hers,” with this he put his hand on Skye’s shoulder, “his name is Grant Ward.”

 

“I’m sorry. I can’t give out any information to non-family members.”

 

Coulson nodded and pulled his phone out.  He pushed a few buttons on the screen and put the phone up to his ear.  After a few moments, he spoke, “Hey Carrie…Yeah, we’re here in the lobby.  They won’t let us in…Okay.”

 

He hung up and grabbed Skye’s shoulder.  “Carrie’s going to come talk to us.”

 

Skye nodded and walked over to one of the chairs in the waiting room.  Coulson took the seat next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.  She leaned into him, but couldn’t keep her restless leg from bouncing.  After a few minutes, a frazzled looking Mrs. Ward pushed through a door and hurried over to them.  Coulson and Skye stood to meet her.  “How are you doing Carrie?”

 

Mrs. Ward nodded at them, “He should be okay.  One of the other players went to tackle him and they hit helmet-to-helmet, then when he hit the ground, his head hit first.  They say he at least has a concussion, but they want to keep him overnight at least to check if anything else happened.  They have him sedated right now.  The doctor said he was well enough to get some rest and the pain might be pretty bad if he was awake.”

 

Coulson nodded and took a deep breath, “Alright.  That’s good news. It means he should be fine.”

 

Mrs. Ward nodded and then looked down at Skye, “I can get them to let you in if you want. Like I said, he’s asleep right now so you couldn’t talk to him, but if you want to see him.”

 

Skye nodded, not believing she could speak.  Mrs. Ward put an arm around her and led her back to the front desk.  After a quick conversation, a nurse came out to walk her back. Coulson grabbed Skye’s hand, “I’m going to take Carrie and get her something to drink, if you’re okay with going in by yourself.”

 

Skye just nodded again, and Coulson squeezed her hand before he walked away.  She followed the nurse back to Ward’s room and only looked up from her feet when the door was pushed open in front of her. The nurse left her alone and she stood inside the door looking at the boy in the bed.  The only sound in the room was the steady beat of the heart monitor. She finally got up the nerve and sat down in the chair next to the bed.  Skye took his hand and started crying.  She muttered “I’m sorry” over and over, placing her head on the bed. After a few minutes of crying, she sat back up and looked at his face for the first time. 

 

He was going to have a nasty bruise along his hairline from the helmet.  Other than that he looked just like he did any other time. Her grip on his hand tightened as she stood up and gently kissed the top of his head, like he had done so often to her.  She sat back down without letting go of his hand.  It was quiet again for a few minutes as Skye just watched Ward’s chest move up and down. Suddenly, the door opened and let a sliver of light into the darkened room.  A light gasp could be heard from the doorway as the door shut.

 

Skye’s eyes refocused immediately and she snapped her head towards the door.  She hissed through her teeth, with tears still falling from her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

 

Standing in the doorway was a shocked, to say the least, Jemma Simmons; staring open mouthed at the furious girl in the chair.  “Hello Skye.”


	11. I Want You To Want Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation, and a look into my personal opinions on certain movie genres and certain artists.

“What the Hell are you doing here Simmons?”

 

Skye was seething already. Just the sight of the British girl was sending her over the edge.  Jemma shifted in the doorway and took a deep breath.  “I came home early and phoned Fitz after our plane landed. I couldn’t even get a ‘hello’ out before he started in on me.  After we hung up, I called Ward’s phone to apologize for not telling you guys that I was leaving.  His mother answered and told me that he was here.  I tried to just hang up, but she insisted that I come down to see him. I will never understand why.”

 

Simmons let out a quiet and awkward laugh as she rubbed one of her arms.  Skye’s face was still twisted into a scowl, and Jemma could not meet her eyes.  “You know, Simmons? There are a couple things I don’t understand either.  Why Carrie invited you here, why people like Jackson Pollock, Chemistry, why you started ignoring me.”

 

The bluntness of the statement shocked Simmons into locking eyes with Skye.  Soft, sad eyes finally met the burning pair across the room. Both sets were filled with unshed tears, and neither able to speak for near a minute.  Eventually, Skye unclenched her jaw enough to breath out a single word, “Why?”

 

Simmons watched her hands as she played with the bottom of her shirt.  “I, um, you see,” Her eyes darted around the walls, “After Homecoming, I may have come to a sort of realization.  One that, I did not know how, um, how to process.  So, instead of dealing with the issue, I tried to avoid it, and for that I am sorry.  What I had come to—“

 

In the middle of her rambling, Simmons’ phone went off.  It was not the usual Bill Nye the Science Guy theme, but something with a more classical tone.  Jemma quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and answered.  “Hello mother…Yes…Of course…Yes…I’ll be home in a few minutes.” As Simmons hung up her phone, she looked back up at Skye, “I have to go, but I do want to talk to you about this, and give you the time you deserve.  I have nothing to do on Sunday, if that could work for you?”

 

Simmons’ eyes were almost pleading.  Skye refused to look up at her, thinking that the look Jemma was giving her might just break her resolve and push her anger away.  Finally, Skye licked her lips and croaked out, “Fine, Sunday.”

 

“Okay. Good.  Sunday then.  I will see you then.”

 

Simmons hurried away as she finished and the room was silent again except for the constant sound of the machines hooked up to Ward.  Skye sat staring at the door for a few minutes before turning back to look at Ward’s sleeping form. She grabbed his hand again and shook her head, laughing lightly at herself.  “I could use some advice right about now.  At this point, I might actually listen to you. A big first, right?”

 

Skye paused, as if waiting for a response, before sighing and dropping his hand.  Her hands ran over her face and then through her hair as she chuckled again.  Shaking her head, she stood and paced the room.  With a lack of other things to do, she started humming.  She closed her eyes and stepped and clapped her hands to the beat of the song in her head.  Her breathing settled into the beat, calming her down.  That is, until someone spoke.  “You never struck me as a Beatles fan.”

 

Skye almost jumped behind the bed.  She twisted around, towards the door, to see Coulson standing there.  “I didn’t hear you come in.  You scared me.”

 

Skye’s voice was quiet and Coulson just smiled at her for a moment.  “We’ve got to head home.  You ready?”

 

Nodding in response, Skye walked over and grabbed Ward’s shoulder before following Coulson out of the room. They quickly said goodbye to Mrs. Ward before walking out to the SUV.  It wasn’t until they pulled onto the road that one of them spoke up. Coulson glanced over at her before speaking, “I saw Simmons come out of the room earlier.”

 

Skye hummed an affirmative and continued to stare straight ahead, refusing to give anymore of an answer. Coulson took a deep breath, “Everything okay between you two?  She seemed a little off.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

Coulson nodded, but the crease in his forehead deepened.  “I know I shouldn’t dig too much, but you two are obviously in the middle of a disagreement of some sort.”

 

Skye rolled her eyes, “Your military training help you figure that out?”

 

He shot a look in her direction quickly, “Alright, I walked right into that.  Does this have anything to do with Homecoming?”

 

Skye sank into the seat of the car and shrugged.  Coulson nodded, “Okay, so it does.  What happened?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“You don’t know?”

 

“I have no freaking idea!” Skye’s voice rose higher and higher as she spoke, “I’ve spent a week trying to figure that out!”

 

“So what have you thought of so far?”

 

Skye pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes, “The only thing I can come up with is that she figured out I’m into girls and she ran.”

 

The car was silent the rest of the way to Coulson’s house.  Once they pulled into the garage, Skye jumped out and immediately hurried up to her room. After reaching blindly into a drawer and changing into clothes to sleep in, she fell face-first onto her bed and groaned. This weekend was shaping up to be a rough one.

 

Skye fell asleep, from pure mental exhaustion, shortly after lying down.  She stayed in that position until nearly noon the next day. Even when she woke up, Skye had no intention of moving.  Her stomach, however, had other plans and growled at her.  With a whine, Skye pushed herself to her feet and out the door.

 

Her feet smacked against the stairs as she stumbled her way to the kitchen.  With eyes barely open, she walked over and pulled the refrigerator open.  After scanning for a couple seconds she switched to the freezer.  She looked around and eventually decided on ice cream for lunch. Skye pulled a bowl out of the cabinet and grabbed a spoon before sitting at the kitchen table to pick at it. She slowly dug into the treat, staring blankly at the wall.  Taking extremely small bites, Skye seemed like she was making an afternoon out of the dessert. It took long enough that by the time she was halfway through, Coulson had returned from the run he took, he had gotten a late start; and he was able to take a shower and come back down to the kitchen before she was finished.  He stood next to her with his eyebrows raised, “Having a well balanced breakfast today, I see.”

 

All he got in return was a grunt and the vision of Skye pushing more half-melted ice cream into her mouth. Coulson nodded and turned towards the rest of the kitchen.  He grabbed a package out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and placed it in the microwave. After a minute of the only sounds being the buzzing of the microwave and Skye’s spoon hitting the bowl, the microwave beeped.  Coulson took the heated sandwich out of the machine, placed it on a plate, and put it in front of Skye. He then grabbed the bowl out of her hands and took it to the sink.  Skye tried reaching for the bowl with a whine, but couldn’t quite make it. “Hey, what gives?”

 

“Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit.  Something with at least a little nutritional value.”

 

Skye stared at the sandwich in front of her for a few seconds before slowly reaching down and taking a bite. Coulson shuffled around the room, cleaning up what was laying around, while Skye finished her food. When she was done, she brought her plate over to the sink and leaned against the counter.  “So, what’s your plans for today?”

 

Coulson dried his hands while he answered; “I was going to head over to the hospital today, give Mrs. Ward a little time to rest.  Did you want to join me?”

 

Skye stared at the empty space in front of her for a moment, “Sure.  Yeah.”

 

“Alright. I’ll give you some time to get ready, and then we can head over.  No rush.”

 

Skye stood up and pushed the chair in before moving back up to her room without responding. She grabbed clothes that were quickly at her fingertips and walked over to the bathroom.  Once in the bathroom, Skye dropped her clothes and caught sight of herself in the mirror.  Even with just a glance, Skye spotted the dark circles under her own eyes and noticed how tired she still felt.  She immediately turned on the shower, stripped down, and jumped in.  With a sigh, Skye leaned her head against the wall and tried just to focus on her breathing.  Maybe she would spend a little bit more time in the shower than usual, so what?

 

It was almost an hour later that Skye emerged from the bathroom in her jeans and t-shirt, with her hair in a simple ponytail.  She tied up her old, gray Converse and walked downstairs.  Coulson was in the garage, sitting in Lola.  Skye paused for a moment in the doorway, surprised to see the car uncovered. “We’re not taking Lola.  Go ahead and get in the SUV, I’ll cover her up and we’ll head out.”

 

Coulson hadn’t looked up at any point, even while he was talking.  If she wasn’t the only one in the garage with him, Skye would have thought that he hadn’t even noticed her come in.  Instead of questioning it, Skye just chalked it up to military training and got in the passenger seat of the SUV.  She watched Coulson put something into Lola’s glove compartment before getting out of the car, pull the tarp back over, and get around and into the SUV. Once he pulled the car out of the driveway, Coulson flipped the radio on and to a Top 40 station. Skye can’t help but hum along to Andy Grammar when he comes on the radio, even with her mood over the past few days. Other than the radio, and Skye’s humming, there was no sound coming from inside of the car for the entire ride to the hospital. 

 

It was just as silent between the two as they headed into the building itself.  Once inside the hospital, Coulson patted Skye’s shoulder and nodded in Mrs. Ward’s direction.  The woman was sitting in the waiting area, her knee bouncing up and down as she stared at the phone in her hands.  Skye slowly walked up to her and sat down in the adjacent chair.  “Hey Carrie.”

 

Mrs. Ward smiled up at her after hearing her voice, “Skye, honey, I didn’t think you were coming today.”

 

Skye shrugged, “Where else would I be?”

 

Mrs. Ward reached over and gave the younger girl a hug before standing up, “Come on, let’s go see if you can go back and see Grant.”

 

Skye followed Mrs. Ward up to the desk and was allowed back into Ward’s room.  A nurse again led her back, and held the door open for her. Skye thanked her as she ducked passed and into the room.  As soon as she cleared the doorway, a voice spoke up, “Hey there, Shorty.”

 

“Grant.” Skye sighed more than spoke.

 

“How are you doing kiddo?”

 

Skye nodded at him as she scooted closer to the chair next to his bed, “I’m doing better.”

 

Grant nodded back at her, “Good to hear.”

 

Skye finally reached the chair and sat down, looking at Ward.  “I’m sorry.”

 

“For what? Not being at the game?” Skye gave him a confused look at his response and opened her mouth to speak, but Ward cut her off before she could actually say anything, “Because you should be.  It turns out I kind of suck without my good luck charm.”

 

Skye choked out a laugh at that, “To be fair, you suck when I’m there, so.”

 

Her voice tapered off as she held out the last word and Ward laughed at her.  The room got quiet again after that.  There was a tension hanging in the air, something that these two were not used to.  Ward cleared his throat, “I am really sorry about what I said the other day, Skye.”

 

“I know. I kind of deserved it though.”

 

“No.” Ward shook his head violently, then had to blink his eyes clear, “No, you didn’t.  I was out of line, and I don’t actually believe any of what I said. You know that, right?”

 

Skye nodded at him, “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

 

The next silence was much more comfortable.  Ward glanced at Skye out of the corner of his eye a couple of times before speaking. “So, I heard Simmons stopped by last night.”

 

“She did.”

 

“While you were here.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m going to ask a question this time, maybe I’ll get more than a half sentence.  What happened?”

 

Skye sighed, “I asked her why she started ignoring me, her mom called, she ran away again.”

 

Ward turned towards her as much as he could, “She didn’t say anything?”

 

Skye shrugged at him, “She said she wanted to explain something to me, and that she had some time to meet up tomorrow.”

 

Ward raised his eyebrows at Skye, “Are you going to see her?”

 

“I told her I would.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

“I’m not so sure.”

 

“At least you get to hear her side of the story.”

 

Skye just grunted in response. That seemed to be the end of the conversation, until Ward spoke up again, “So, what are you going to wear?”

 

“What?”

 

“Isn’t that one of those things in those rom-coms you made me watch?  Impress her, make her want you more kind of thing.”

 

“Okay first of all, I was like twelve and we agreed to never speak of that.  Second, I don’t think that exactly fits this situation. And third, she would have to like me for her to ‘want me more’, or whatever you’re talking about.”

 

“Don’t sell yourself so short, Shorty.”

 

Skye just rolled her eyes at Ward as he laughed at her.  They fell into an easy conversation, as they usually could, and all thoughts of the world outside of the two of them disappeared.  Their consciousness didn’t extend past the four walls of the hospital room until Skye’s phone vibrated against her leg.  The look on her face told Ward all he needed to know about who it was that sent that text message.  “What does Simmons want?”

 

Skye just turned the phone towards him to let him read the message.

 

 **Jemma:** Hello Skye, I was just making sure that you were willing to talk to me tomorrow and that it would be okay to meet at your house. Any time that is convenient for you will be fine with me.

 

Ward read the message and his eyebrows rose.  He met Skye’s eyes with his own questioning glance.  “So what are you going to tell her?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Just tell her to be at Coulson’s place when you’re awake tomorrow.  Do you think you’ll be out of bed by four?”

 

Skye smacked him on the shoulder, “That was one time.”

 

Ward laughed at her, “Hey, don’t hit me.  I am in the hospital right now.”

 

“Yeah. How much longer do you have to be here?”

 

“I’ll be out by tomorrow at the latest.”

 

Skye nodded at him, reaching out and grabbing his arm lightly.  Ward reached over with his other hand and grabbed Skye’s. There was a moment of silence before Ward spoke again, “So, you never answered me.  What are you going to wear?”

 

“If you weren’t already in the hospital, I’d take you out.”

 

“You’re supposed to be trying to take Simmons out, but if you insist on it being me you should know that I prefer Thai food.”

 

“I might actually kill you one of these days.”

 

“Then who would you get to watch all those horrible romance movies with you?”

 

“One time. Four years ago.”

 

Both of them were laughing at this point.  It was incredible to Skye how easily they fell back into their natural rhythm. There was nobody else she could do this kind of thing with.  Nobody she could ever see herself doing this with.  She was smiling at her train of thought when Ward interrupted it, “I know for a fact that four years ago was not the last time you willingly watched one of those.”

 

“What?” Skye asked incredulously.

 

“I know, for a fact, that there’s a folder on your laptop called ‘6th Grade’ that has a downloaded copy of _Definitely, Maybe_ in it.”

 

“What the Hell, Grant? Why were you searching through my stuff?”

 

“Mom did that thing for your birthday last year where she put all those pictures of all of us together. I was just seeing if you had any on there.”

 

Skye remembered that present well.  She had the small album of pictures in her old bag.  That was one thing she took everywhere with her, other than her laptop. There were pictures of her and the Ward’s from the beginning of their friendship, all the way back when they were small enough to hide under Ward’s bed together when Maria showed up, up until just a couple weeks before Skye’s birthday.  “That’s still not cool, man.”

 

“I also found _10 Things I Hate About You_ on there. But you didn’t try nearly as hard to hide that one.”

 

“That one doesn’t count as a rom-com.  It’s just a cinematic masterpiece.”

 

The teasing and joking between the two continued until Coulson popped his head into the room and told Skye that they had to leave, over an hour later.  The young girl felt ten pounds lighter as she hugged Ward and left the hospital.  Skye bounced along to the radio in the car as Coulson drove them back home. It wasn’t until they were almost back to the house that Skye unlocked her phone and saw that she still had her text conversation with Simmons open.  She sighed and leaned her head back against the seat. “Hey, AC?”  Coulson hummed to acknowledge her question, “Simmons wants to come over to talk about something tomorrow, you cool with that?”

 

Coulson thought for a moment, “I’m going out for a while tomorrow, but I think I can trust you two not to tear the house down.”

 

“Or touch Lola?”

 

“I lock the garage when I leave.”

 

“Wow. I can’t even be in the same room as Lola without your supervision?”

 

“Nope.”

 

Coulson glanced over at her and grinned.  Skye rolled her eyes at him and looked back down to her phone.  With another sigh, she responded to the text message she had received earlier.

 

 **Skye:** 2 works.

 

She didn’t have to wait long for a response; her phone was vibrating before the SUV even got to Coulson’s street.

 

 **Jemma:** I will be there at two then.  Thank you.

 

Skye thought through all the reasons that she had come up with as to why Simmons had stayed away from her for this long and wondering how this conversation the next day is going to go. Of course her mind kept returning to the option where Simmons walks in, tells Skye that she is disgusting or whatever, and asks her never to speak to her again.  Even as she climbs up to her room and turns on some mindless show on Netflix, she can’t stop thinking about losing the first real friend she’s made in years.

 

Skye wakes up at almost ten o’clock the next morning, after hours of lying in bed not laughing at the antics of the Belcher family on her screen.  She’s not sure when she went to sleep, but it doesn’t feel like she was out for very long.  Netflix is asking if she’s still watching her show, the answer to which had basically been no for the entire time that it had been playing.  She turns the TV off and slowly walks around her room and then across to the bathroom.  She takes her time getting ready and ends up sitting at the kitchen table near eleven. Coulson walked into the room not long after Skye and paused in surprise.  “Good morning Skye.  I didn’t think you’d be up this early.”

 

Skye shrugged at him, “Couldn’t get back to sleep.”  Not that she tried, she just knew.

 

Coulson nodded at her, “So, when will Miss Simmons be here?”

 

“Like two?”

 

Coulson was adjusting his shirt as he responded to her, “Well, I’m leaving in just a little bit, so you two will have the house to yourselves.  Try not to break anything.  And please try to be appropriate, just because I’m not here doesn’t mean,” He paused and his hands stilled on his cuffs, “that the door can be closed.”

 

Skye choked on air and coughed out, “Dude!”

 

“I just want to make sure that we’re clear on that.”

 

“You so do not have to worry about that.”

 

Coulson grabbed a glass and filled it with water before handing it to Skye.  She drank it after thanking him and cleared her throat. He leaned up against the counter and looked across the room at her, “Are you going to be okay here by yourself with her?”

 

Skye bunched her eyebrows in confusion and looked up at him, “What do you mean?”

 

He shrugged, “If you need someone to be here when she’s here, or after she leaves, I can adjust my plans.”

 

Skye smiled up at him, “No. I think I’m good. Thanks though.”

 

He pushed himself upright and walked towards the garage, “In that case, I’m going to head out.”

 

Skye got up from the table and rushed up to hug him.  Once her arms encircled him, she curled her head into his shoulder. “Thank you.  For everything.”

 

Skye could feel his smile as he patted her on the back, “It’s what I signed up for. I’m just glad I could be here.”

 

He squeezed her shoulder as she stepped away.  Skye had to take a deep breath and walk back towards the table, pretending to check her phone while wiping her eyes, after they both let go.  Coulson gave her a quick goodbye, which she returned, as he walked into the garage.  Skye heard the lock on the door click and she couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Skye stood in the kitchen for a few more moments bathing in the mood.  That was shattered when she realized that she now had just over an hour until Jemma was supposed to be there; an hour of empty anticipation and anxiety. Her hands were starting to shake, so she grabbed her phone and dialed the first number on her most recent list.

 

The phone rang twice before the person on the other end answered, “Skye, honey?”

 

“Carrie.” Skye breathed out.

 

She had technically dialed Ward’s phone, but it made sense that his mother would have it, considering that he was still confined to a hospital bed with a head injury. Mrs. Ward didn’t give her much time to think through any of this, though.  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

 

“Okay, so how much did Ward tell you about the whole Simmons’ situation since Homecoming?”

 

“Nothing really. Why?  What happened?”

 

Skye walked into the living room and started pacing as she gave a quick summary of what had transpired since the night of the dance.  After she finished she took a deep breath, having spewed out the entire story in one long wind, and threw her hand not holding the phone out.  “And now she is coming over here to explain.”

 

“Skye, it’ll be fine. If she asked to come over and explain, than it can’t be bad.  She’s coming to your house, to talk to you face to face.  It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”

 

Skye could feel her heart rate dropping from the frenzied pace it had been beating at. “Thanks Carrie.”

 

“You just call me when she leaves to tell me I was right.”

 

Both of them laughed and Skye promised to do just that.  They said their goodbyes as a voice in the background called for Mrs. Ward. Skye checked the time and saw that she still had 45 minutes left of waiting.  She knew she couldn’t just sit on the couch for that long, so she decided that she needed to talk to someone else, a second opinion of sorts. She pulled up the contact and hit call before she could think twice.  This call was answered even faster than the one to Mrs. Ward, “Skye. What happened?”

 

“Personal call, Maria, not professional.”

 

Skye could hear the other woman’s exhale through the receiver, “You’ve never called me before, so excuse me for panicking.”

 

“Sorry. It’s just that ever since Homecoming, Simmons has been ignoring me and then she flew back to England for a couple days without telling anyone, and she got back and apparently wants to explain things to me and she’s on her way here and I’m kind of freaking out.”

 

Maria took a second to respond, and when she did it wasn’t even to Skye.  She shouted away from the phone, “Nat!  Grab me a beer, there’s high school drama!”

 

Natasha could be barely heard through the phone, “Lovers’ quarrel already?”

 

Skye ignored the comment she was probably not meant to hear in the first place, “Thanks Maria. Glad I could give you an excuse to drink.”

 

“Sarcasm aside, just calm down.  If she’s coming over to your house, she’s probably coming to apologize and try to make up.”

 

Natasha apparently had gotten back to Maria by then because she shouted as she passed near her fiancée, “Or make out.”

 

“Nat, really?”

 

“If it’s not either of those, you have three former military members on your side to deal with her.”

 

“Natasha Alianovna Romanoff!”

 

Skye chuckled at the exchange, “That’s one Hell of a name.”

 

Maria was done scolding the redhead, for the moment, so she turned her attention back to Skye, “As I was saying, you’ll be fine.  There’s nothing to be worried about.  Though my fiancée might have to worry about being able to use her hand if she doesn’t stop that!”

 

“Okay then! I do not want to know what she’s doing, but I obviously interrupted something.  So, I’m just going to go now.”

 

“Skye, seriously. Don’t worry.”

 

“Thanks Maria. Tell Natasha thanks too.”

 

“I will. Talk to you soon.”

 

“Definitely. Bye.”

 

Skye hung up and despite all the reassurances she wasn’t feeling much better.  Logically, she knew they were probably right. Simmons was coming to her house, and she did seem actually upset at what she had done.  That being acknowledged, she couldn’t stop herself from panicking; that feeling only escalating at the sound of the doorbell.

 

After checking her phone, Skye knew that there was still a decent amount of time before Simmons was supposed to get there.  The British girl was one to show up early to everything, though.  Skye cautiously approached the door and opened it.

 

Jemma Simmons was standing on the porch, facing away from the house.  She spun around at the sound of the door, and gulped upon seeing Skye. They stood there for a time, silently staring at each other.  Simmons looked nearly as awkward and uncomfortable as Skye felt.  “Hello Skye.”

 

“Simmons.”

 

Skye stepped aside and let Simmons walk into the house past her.  They entered the living room and Skye took a seat in Coulson’s chair. Simmons stood for a moment longer before sitting on the couch.  It was quiet again.  Jemma made a point to look everywhere except at Skye.  Skye, however, was focused solely on the other girl, “Alright. Let’s get on with this.”

 

Skye’s patience was wearing thin already.  She had been waiting for this, and with everything else that happened this week she was not willing to let this drag out.  Simmons finally looked at Skye, and took a deep breath, “So, before I really start, I would like to say that I truly did have a lovely time at Homecoming with you.” She paused, obviously waiting for Skye to respond.  When that didn’t happen, she continued, “The last time I was here, when I was dropping you off, I came to a certain realization that I had not actually considered. Damn, I hate it when Fitz is right.”

 

Skye started, surprised, “What was Fitz right about?”

 

“Ever since we came here, he said he noticed a change in me.  I told him that he was being ridiculous, but he just wouldn’t stop with it. I paid him no mind until that night. After that, I needed some time to think through what had transpired.”

 

“So, what did you figure out?”

 

Simmons swallowed hard, “I discovered that I may have an interest of a different persuasion than I first thought.”

 

“Okay, ‘C’ student here. I’m going to need smaller words.”

 

“I realized that I have developed quite a serious crush, to use the same language Fitz did. A crush on, well, you.”

 

Skye sat staring, open mouthed, at Simmons for longer than she probably should have. If Jemma’s reaction was anything to go by, it was definitely too long.  The Brit wrung her hands together and stared intently at them as she rambled along, “I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.  I know you were probably just being friendly and my hormones pushed it all out of proportion.  If it would be better, we can forget this ever happened and move on, or I could just leave you alone. I’m sorry, this is awkward.”

 

“Jemma! Calm down.”  Skye was actually smiling at the other girl as she tried to calm herself down.  “Why did you think that would make me uncomfortable?  Enough that you avoided me for a full week?”

 

Simmons’ cheeks deepened in color at the mention of her actions, “I’m sorry about that. I just didn’t know how you’d react.”

 

“Did you not know that I’m like super gay?”

 

“You? What?”

 

“Dude, at Homecoming Raina called me out.  You know, right before you punched her out defending my honor, or whatever.”  Skye was laughing at the baffled look on Simmons’ face.

 

“I just thought she said that because you had gone with me.  Fitz is right again, I am completely oblivious.”

 

Simmons looked as if she had just had her world turned upside-down.  “You alright there?”

 

“If I’m this oblivious, how much have I missed in the lab?  I could have killed someone.”

 

Skye busted out laughing at that, “I’m pretty sure you’re good there.  You probably would have known if that had happened.” Jemma was still staring at her hands as if she could see the hypothetical blood on them.  “Also, now is totally not the time for that crisis.”

 

Simmons looked back up, “Right, of course.”

 

“So, since we’re sharing secrets here, I guess I should probably tell you one of my own.” Jemma looked right at Skye as the girl spoke, “I’ve had a crush on you for a while now.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. I even called dibs.”

 

“What? Dibs?”

 

“With Ward. It’s kind of a game we play. I called dibs, so he’s not allowed to try to go after you.”

 

“Interesting.” Simmons seemed lost in her thoughts for a second before focusing back on Skye, “So, what does this mean for, um, us?”

 

Skye faltered, she’s never been great at thinking ahead.  “Um, this means…I’m not sure.”

 

Simmons bobbed her head and looked around, “Well, I would like for this to mean that I can ask you a certain question.”

 

“And what would that be?”

 

“Skye, would you go out, on a date, with me?”

 

Skye smiled at her, “I think I’d like that.”

 

The two girls ended up beaming at each other for some time, until the reverie was broken by the _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ theme. Both of them laughed at the interruption and Simmons stood up.  “I should probably get going.  Fitz probably wants to give me the ‘I told you so’ speech.”

 

Skye got up and walked with Jemma to the door, “Alright, well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Tomorrow it is. And, um, Skye?”

 

Skye smiled at the tint Simmons’ cheeks were taking on, “Yes?”

 

“I know you are probably still frustrated with me for how I acted, which is completely understandable, but may I hug you?”

 

Skye acted as if she was thinking before smiling and opening her arms.  Jemma stepped into the embrace and squeezed her, before pulling back and placing a kiss on Skye’s cheek.  Simmons immediately escaped Skye’s grip, whispering a goodbye as she hurried back to her car, leaving Skye smiling like an idiot on the porch with her hand on her cheek.


End file.
